Andrew Hill - Black Fire

Of all the albums that Andrew Hill released this is probably my most favorite one. Everything that Andrew Hill is about shines here so well. Not only is he good on this album but everyone else who participated on it. Joe Henderson (who's on saxophone here) is probably the star of the show. His expressive yet very structured play fits very well with Andrews own piano skills. This is probably most evident on the title track, Black Fire, where they both play in unison the chorus of the song.

The album itself is considered free jazz but it's actually very well structured. There's no free exploration here, it might sound free to some due to strange time signatures and unusual keys that they play (mostly major, I think?) so the album tends to sound cold and machine like. But I find a lot of beauty and energy in it. It's as if they're trying to play regular bebop but as it goes on it gets more fierce and it tries to break free of its limitations.

All in all a great and interesting album. Even if you're not that big on free jazz (or just getting into it) you might enjoy this.

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