Andrew Hill - But Not Farewell (Blue Note, 1990)

 

Andrew Hill, piano

Greg Osby, alto & soprano sax

Robin Eubanks, trombone
Lonnie Plaxico, bass
Cecil Brooks III, drums

Recorded July 12 & 13 and September 16, 1990

Clinton Recording Studio, NYC

Engineers: Jim Anderson & Gene Curtis

Andrew Hill's Eternal Spirit was his 1989 "comeback" album on Blue Note. The following July, Hill entered the Clinton Recording Studio and laid down five tracks over a 2-day period using quintet and quartet formats. Two months later he returned to add two more tracks. The result was issued as But Not Farewell. 

My search for photos of Hill in 1990 was futile, except for the album cover that shows a smiling face. Photographically, Hill was often portrayed as a serious iconoclast composing inscrutable pieces that sometimes baffled his bandmates. To the contrary, I find Hill's music to be joyful and rich in ideas as well as emotionally complex. 

The horns of Greg Osby and Robin Eubanks are perfectly paired for Hill's new music. I am especially intrigued by Hill's employment of trombone in his complex arrangements. Almost all of Hill's compositions can be considered "loose," and Eubanks along with Osby and drummer Cecil Brooks III generate a feeling of controlled chaos. For example, "Nicodemus" (my favorite tune on the album) skitters and veers while maintaining a logical structure that is Hill's unique signature.

 

"Georgia Ham," the fourth song on the album, is a marathon lasting over 17 minutes and might have gone further if not faded out. It's mainly a jam but a very good jam. My attention is drawn to Brooks, whose rhythmic shifts keep "Georgia Ham" compelling.

"Friends," "Sunnyside" and "Gone" are the last three songs on But Not Farewell, and they feature smaller combinations of the larger group. "Friends" pairs Osby with Hill in a friendly, tempo-free conversation. It was recorded the day after the four tracks with the full ensemble. 

The last two tracks are solo performances by Hill, an artist who recorded numerous solo albums in his long career. Gene Curtis, the engineer for the solo pieces, gets a spacious natural sound from Hill's piano. "Sunnyside" is brief at 3:41 minutes; "Gone" is expansive at 13:30. 

For my review of Hill's preceding recording, go to: 

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