Search - Bobby Hutcherson :: Components

Best Hutcherson Blue Note still in print

Thomas Aikin | San Diego, CA | 05/28/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bobby Hutcherson is rightfully considered one of the best vibraphonists in the history of jazz. He's also one of the most innovative and esoteric as his recordings for Blue Note in the mid to late 60's display. Hutcherson led sessions are most commonly called 'post-bop' with interesting compositions and outstanding playing from all-star lineups. Components is one of these sessions. The lineup includes James Spaulding on alto sax and flute, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. As an LP the album two sides were split into compositions Hutcherson (the first four) and Chambers the last four. Its interesting to hear how their compositional styles vary and how the group tackles these originals. The standout performer here is Spaulding who has several top notch solos. This album is a reissue as part of Blue Note's flighty Conoisseur series, these are limited editions and become hotly pursued once they go out of print. This one has been in print an abnormally long time (1994 reissue) and certainly can't be around much longer. Anyone interested in exploring the Blue Note recordings of Bobby Hutcherson should start here."

One of Blue Note's Brightest at His Best

Leone Evangelista | out to lunch | 04/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was one of Hutcherson's few truly challenging dates as leader, an amalgam of mid-60's post bop sensibilities and mind-blowing "New Thing" esoterics. It is perhaps his most consistently engaging, focusing the experiments on "Dialogue" into a vision more wholly personal--all the while retaining the sense of exploratory exhiliration that made that earlier session so great. Hutcherson is--fittingly--a far more prominent voice here, composing half the album and taking greater liberties with his solo space. Joe Chambers, whose thoughtful accompaniment and propulsive drive provided the backdrop for numerous "salad-era" Blue Note sessions, penned the other half; his decisively "free" compositions, much like his drumming, furnish the foundations for some truly intricate, engaging group communication. The improvisation itself is more compact, the tracks shorter, the scope more synoptic--a sort of manifesto for the vibist's future and past, cut clean down the middle and made ready for consumption. Suffice it to say, the group is killer and delivers the goods. The rhythm work is rock solid, the front line of Spaulding and Hubbard as fiery and captivating as it was or would be anywhere else. Each might go on to bigger and better things, but nowhere did these musicians better fit Bobby's world, sound so sympathetic, emphatic, enthused. This is Hutcherson's DEFINITIVE Blue Note session, a watermark for the label... and I'll bet that few can say otherwise."

Quite

kibblenibbler | CT | 10/31/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"inferior to Hutcherson's Dialogue. put simply, even with the talent assembled, Hutcherson's compositions here just do not stand up well to those of Andrew Hill's on the prior, far-superior recording. take it from this listener: definitely, definitely do not use the All Music Guide as a reference here. somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars."