Whenever Andrew Hill's hands touched the piano, pure gold was created. His compositions and arrangements hit right on the money -- illustrating modernity, intellect, and strong emotions. Probably the forefather of the semi-avant garde/post bop academy, Hill weaves harmonies and chromatic scales to offer us Judgment!. The beauty with Hill, is that his playing and songwriting fits so perfectly in so many forms. Whether it's with the vast polyrhythms and dynamical drumming of Elvin Jones, or the melodic, modulated, & cymbal accentuated drumming of Tony Williams. Whether it has a strong horn ensemble, or a smaller group like in Judgment!, which is backed by Richard Davis, Elvin Jones, and Bobby Hutcherson.
Judgment! exhibits textured, extended and thoughtful solos that really mess with the ideas of harmony and melody. A lot of colors show through with this group. Especially in Yokada Yokada, a whimsical take on a blues using the chromatic scale to form the melody while also offering tidbits of modern aspects. For example, instead of playing the Five-to-Four-to-One turnaround ending the verse, Elvin Jones fills in with a quick solo before the group enters in on the One chord to finish the break. This reminds me of Sol LeWitt's Incomplete Cube Series. Where the artist removes sides of the objects, playing on the notion of how viewers can perceive a shape while parts are lacking. And like in Yokada Yokada, the listener still perceives that bluesy lick to finish the bar even though it's absent.
1964 - Blue Note.
Andrew Hill - Piano; Richard Davis - Bass; Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes; Elvin Jones - Drums.
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