Search - Andrew Hill :: Beautiful Day

Andrew Hill will always be remembered for Blue Note landmarks such as Point of Departure, but 2000's Dusk proved there was still plenty of creative gas left in the 63-year-old pianist's tank. Recorded live during a three-night stand at New York's Birdland, A Beautiful Day finds Hill thinking big, fortifying his regular sextet with 11 additional players. Hill's compositional voice has always been a unique one that stretches time signatures and melodies in imaginative ways, incorporating the open-mindedness of free jazz without losing a traditional sense of swing. The band is an extension of this, creating textured cacophonies at times ("J Di") and leaving plenty of space for soloists at others. Highlights include the chamber-music-like "5 Mo" and the epic "Faded Beauty" (which features a great bass clarinet solo from Marty Ehrlich). A classic album from a class act, A Beautiful Day realizes the textural and tonal possibilities of large-group jazz without ever losing the leader's compositional voice. --Tad Hendrickson