Spring in Maine

Spring in Maine means a snow storm or two, and we're having one tonight. So I have taken the night off and amid some music tasks- putting a few tunes into Finale- I'll check out a baseball game, which makes me feel like it really is spring.

It has been a while since I last posted and I have yet to check out the recordings from the February gigs, but that is on the agenda for the weekend, since I have both recorded nights in hand. Meanwhile, I have listened lately to some new music, including a nice Edward Simon (largely) trio CD with John Patittucci and Brian Blade; revisited a Steve Cardenas trio CD with Mark Ferber on drums, and spent some time a couple of weeks ago checking out a nice Albert Sanz live session with his drummer, R.J. Miller, which I really liked on first impression. Sanz is a Spanish pianist whose playing has deepened recently.

Andrew Hill's classic Black Fire from 1963 reminded me of the royalty of the masters. Hill- at the time 26 years old- is joined by Joe Henderson, also 26, and youthful masters Richard Davis- 33- and 37 year old Roy Haynes, whose crisp perfection glows with swing, creativity, and unerring intuition. His personal sound, and those of the rest of the band, imbues Hill's unique, forward-thinking melodies with color and imagination. His drums sound like he still had calfskin heads, but I don't know that for sure. At any rate, these great musicians were in their prime. For Hill, this was his first recording for Blue Note and he was already demonstrating a fully-formed compositional ethic, an individual approach to the piano, and a talent for leading a balanced session from a sympatico group.

As I write this, Hill is suffering from terminal cancer and is pushing 70 years old, yet by all accounts is still making music and composing. His latest Blue Note CD Time Lines is a beautiful, open and challenging set of quintet music. Like all of his music, it never calls attention to itself, but instead draws you into a private world of gorgeous sound.