Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select 16 [2005] (3 x CDs)

SUNDAY JAZZ

ANDDREW HILL

Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select 16 [2005] (3 x CDs)

Imagine walking through a gallery where every room holds a different version of Andrew Hill’s imagination. Mosaic Select 16 feels exactly like that, three discs of Blue Note sessions recorded between 1967 and 1970, each revealing a new angle on Hill’s restless, brilliant mind. These tapes, all from Van Gelder’s studio, show Hill moving through ensembles, textures and ideas with the confidence of a composer who understood that jazz could be both structure and mystery.

The first room is the 1970 sextet, a band built for drive and tension. Charles Tolliver, Pat Patrick, Bennie Maupin, Ron Carter and Ben Riley give Hill a front line capable of sharp turns and deep colour. Tracks like Without Malice, Ocho Rios, Diddy Wah and Satin Lady move with a kind of controlled turbulence — horns cutting through Hill’s angular lines, rhythm section pushing forward with swing and grit. These pieces feel like Hill testing the limits of post‑bop, stretching form without losing pulse.

The second room shifts to 1969, where Hill pairs his quartet with a fully integrated string ensemble. Richard Davis, Mickey Roker, Carlos Garnett, Freddie Waits and Ron Carter appear across these dates, but the strings, cello, viola, violin, create the real transformation. Illusion, Poinsettia, Fragments, Soul Mate and Interfusion feel like chamber jazz refracted through Hill’s harmonic language. The writing is dense yet lyrical, the strings woven into the rhythm rather than laid on top. These sessions show Hill as a composer of rare imagination, unafraid to merge classical texture with improvisational fire.

The third room returns to 1967, where Hill explores ensemble variety with remarkable freedom. Robin Kenyatta, Sam Rivers, Woody Shaw, Howard Johnson, Herbie Lewis, Cecil McBee and Teddy Robinson appear across these dates, creating a shifting landscape of timbre and energy. Hill plays organ on several tracks, Interfusion, MOMA, Awake, Now, I, Yomo, giving the music an unexpected warmth and earthiness. The long forms, especially For Blue People Only, Mother’s Tale and Prevue, reveal Hill’s gift for building tension slowly, letting ideas unfold with patience and depth.

Across all three rooms, the common thread is Hill’s voice: angular, searching, melodic, and deeply personal. These sessions were once scattered across vaults, partial releases and unissued tapes. Mosaic’s set gathers them with care, presenting a complete view of Hill’s late‑sixties brilliance, a period where he pushed jazz into places few others imagined.

For collectors, Mosaic Select 16 is essential: a window into Hill’s most exploratory years. For listeners, it’s a reminder that Andrew Hill was not just a pianist or composer, he was an architect of sound, building structures that still feel modern, mysterious and alive. (B)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Andrew Hill - Without Malice 4:52

02 Andrew Hill - Ocho Rios 10:29

03 Andrew Hill - Diddy Wah 6:50

04 Andrew Hill - Ode to Infinity 4:54

05 Andrew Hill - The Dance 5:34

06 Andrew Hill - Satin Lady 7:59

07 Andrew Hill - Ocho Rios 2nd version 7:33

08 Andrew Hill - Monkash 6:30

09 Andrew Hill - Mahogany 6:53

CD2

01 Andrew Hill - Illusion 7:00

02 Andrew Hill - Poinsettia 6:24

03 Andrew Hill - Fragments 5:03

04 Andrew Hill - Soul Mate 6:21

05 Andrew Hill - Illusion (Alt take) 6:30

06 Andrew Hill - Interfusion 7:26

07 Andrew Hill - Resolution 6:24

08 Andrew Hill - Chained 5:40

09 Andrew Hill - MOMA 5:35

10 Andrew Hill - Nine at The Bottom 5:52

11 Andrew Hill - Six at The Top 9:10

12 Andrew Hill - Nine at The Bottom (Alt take) 6:15

CD3

01 Andrew Hill - For Blue People Only 9:37

02 Andrew Hill - Enamorado 6:10

03 Andrew Hill - Mother's Tale 9:30

04 Andrew Hill - Oriba (First Version) 5:40

05 Andrew Hill - Oriba (2nd version) 6:14

06 Andrew Hill - Awake 7:08

07 Andrew Hill - Now 4:43

08 Andrew Hill - I 7:27

09 Andrew Hill - Yomo 10:04

10 Andrew Hill - Prevue 6:17

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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