Grass Roots (plus unissued session)

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A real stroke of genius from pianist Andrew Hill – and a surprising one too! After an initial legacy of groundbreaking experimental sides for Blue Note, Hill returns to his "grass roots" on this excellent session of straight ahead, fairly funky, soul jazz piano tunes! In the notes, Hill claims a desire to get back to the people – and in a really unusual turn, he shakes off his previous modernist trappings and goes for territory that's much more in the mode of Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, or Hank Mobley on Blue Note! Yet despite this turn, and amidst some more conventional arrangements, Andrew's work on piano is still quite dark and moody – filled with beautiful clashing lines and haunting off-beat changes that open up the session way more than you'd expect! Booker Ervin joins in on tenor – on what would become one of his last recordings – and the rest of the group includes Lee Morgan, Ron Carter, and Freddie Waits – all plenty darn hip players who really get the unusual balance of soul jazz and modernism that Hill's going for here! Tracks include "Mira", "Bayou Red", "Venture Inward", "Grass Roots", and "Soul Special". Plus, this CD also features 5 tracks from a previously unissued session that has Woody Shaw as the leader, with Hill on piano and Frank Mitchell on tenor. Idris Muhammad's the drummer on that one – and funky as you'd expect – and tracks include "MC", "Venture Inward (first version)", "Bayou Red (first version)", and "Love Nocturne".  © 1996-2024, Dusty Groove, Inc.