Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select
I meant to bring this to work with me today. It’s the typical 3 CD select set, covering Hill’s larger ensemble work from 1967-1970. I like box sets where the discs come in their separate jewel boxes, so I can listen to one at a time and rotate them, but this set defied my expectations. By the end of the night I had finished the first two discs and half of the third. While Mosaic Select releases often compile album material, from the music in these sessions, only one album was ever pressed, leaving most of this music unreleased until now. It’ll almost break your heart to think that music this powerful could languish in the vaults so long. I have really grown to love some of the sextet and septet work of Blue Note in the latter half of the 60s, albums like McCoy Tyner’s Tender Moments or Lee Morgan’s Searching for a New Land, so getting 3 full CDs of this type of work is a real treat. Another thing that impressed itself upon me is that these are all Hill’s compositions from beginning to end in all their gnarly, thorny, space/time-defying logic. At times, these compositions go head to head with free jazz during some improvisational sections. I got the distinct feeling that processing all this music is going to be a task I’ll enjoy. Already I’m disappointed I managed to leave it behind. I hope to come back to this later.