Andrew Hill – Black Fire – 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record

Description

Andrew Hill – Black Fire – 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record

Black Fire introduced Andrew Hill to Blue Note listeners with music that was immediately identifiable and difficult to categorize. Recorded in November 1963, the quartet joins Hill’s piano with Joe Henderson’s tenor saxophone, Richard Davis’s bass, and Roy Haynes’s drums. Every composition is Hill’s, and each one bends hard-bop language toward unusual intervals and shifting rhythmic emphasis.

“Pumpkin” opens with a theme that sounds compact until the improvisation reveals its unstable edges. Henderson responds to Hill’s writing with a dry, searching tone, while Davis moves independently beneath the harmony. “Subterfuge” lives up to its title through quick turns and deceptive accents.

The title piece is darker and more spacious. Hill’s chords create tension without forcing a conventional resolution, and Haynes uses the drum kit to comment on the line rather than simply mark time. “Cantarnos” offers a more lyrical shape, but its melody still avoids predictable symmetry.

“Tired Trade,” “McNeil Island,” and “Land of Nod” complete a program that rewards close attention to the rhythm section. Davis and Haynes give Hill enough stability to take harmonic risks, and Henderson’s solos translate the compositions’ angular character into direct, expressive statements.

This Tone Poet edition was mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket. The presentation gives Hill’s challenging but deeply swinging debut the spacious sound and physical treatment it deserves.

Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic

Record Details

Artist: Andrew Hill
Title: Black Fire
Format: 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record
Label: Blue Note Records
Release year: 1963
UPC: 602577520211

Track Listing

A1. Pumpkin
A2. Subterfuge
A3. Black Fire
B1. Cantarnos
B2. Tired Trade
B3. McNeil Island
B4. Land of Nod