Original release date: 25th June 1964
Re-release date: 20th March 2007
"Compulsion!!!!!" is one of Andrew Hill's freest and most "out" albums, here re-released by Blue Note in RVG remastered format. It features Andrew Hill (piano) with Freddie Hubbard (trumpet and flugelhorn), John Gilmore (tenor and bass clarinet), Cecil McBee (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums) with added percussion from Nadi Qamar (African drums and percussion) and Renaud Simmons (congas and percussion). Richard Davis plays bass on one track ("Premonition").
The album takes a more uncompromising stance than other free albums by Andrew Hill (such as the excellent "Judgment" or "Pax") but retains coherence, mainly because of the African pulse of percussion that underpins the music, carrying it forward and adding structure. John Gilmore (seldom heard outside of the Sun Ra context) adds to the coherency, allowing Andrew Hill and Freddie Hubbard to stray as far "out" as they wish.
Overall, this is an involving album with more than a hint of a barely restrained melancholy that somehow can't be kept from breaking through the abstraction at the surface.
As the last re-release in his lifetime, it is a fitting tribute to the memory of this great jazz musician and a measure of the continuing challenge of his music.
In memoriam Andrew Hill (who died on April 20th, 2007)
ejazznews announcement
jazz times article
Washington Post article
Read Andrew Hill's February 27th interview with Paul Olsen
Read our reviews of Andrew Hill albums:
"Judgment!"
"TimeLines"
"Pax"
To preview and purchase “Compulsion!!!!!” at iTunes Music store:
To preview and download “Compulsion!!!!!” on MP3 at Amazon:
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To preview and purchase “Compulsion!!!!!” on CD at Amazon:
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1 comment:
Long unavailable,in my opinion this cd is even better than "Point Of Departure". The set predates World Music by at least thirty years,however the big bonus is the addition of the great John Gilmore on loan from Sun Ra. Coltrane had cited him as a major influence, and Gilmore by way of respect cheekily quotes "A Love Supreme" on the title track. Everybody is performing to an incredible degree.
As usual, the immaculate RVG production reveals the true glory of the music which was not revealed at the time of its' original release. A seminal record, and a fine tribute to a great musician.
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