Andrew Hill - Eternal Spirit (Blue Note, 1989)

This post is by Dan

Andrew Hill (p); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); Greg Osby (as) Rufus Reid (b); Ben Riley (d)

Recorded January 30 and 31, 1989

In the 1960s, as part of Blue Note Records' foray into the avant garde, Andrew Hill was teamed with Bobby Hutcherson on three great albums: Hill's Judgment and Andrew!!!, and Hutcherson's Dialogue. All three records are among my all-time favorites, as are several albums by each musician individually. 

When many people think of the classic Blue Note albums of the 50s and 60s, they think of Rollins and Blakey. I love those guys too but Hill's pairing with Hutcherson stirs something deeper inside of me, which is not exactly easy to articulate. Describing any of these albums track by track helps some, but the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. 

The same problem confronts me with Eternal Spirit, which includes Hutcherson along with altoist Greg Osby and the rhythm team of Rufus Reid and Ben Riley. All of these players are superb individually, but their engagement with Hill's music brings back the magic of the 1960s Blue Notes. Eternal Spirit makes no concessions to the passage of time; its every bit as absorbing as the previously mentioned recordings. Eternal Spirit should be taken as a whole, listened to repeatedly, and appreciated as a maturation of style - and substance - drawn from earlier times.

The recording was released on LP and CD. It's digital 2-track from Rudy Van Gelder, which strengthens the ties with earlier Blue Notes. It sounds great on either CD or vinyl.

The sequel to Eternal Spirit was But Not Farewell (Blue Note, 1991). It's almost as good but loses momentum after the first four tracks. That's not a problem because the first half is wonderful, in large part due to the interplay between Osby and trombonist Robin Eubanks. Had But Not Farewell been recorded a few months earlier, I would surely have included it in the 1980's Favorites category.

I also recommend Dusk (Palmetto, 2000) and Time Lines (Blue Note, 2006). These were all new material played in the vein of Eternal Spirit. There are also numerous reissues of Hill's sessions that were not released when they were recorded by Blue Note. Thanks to Michael Cuscuna for his successful mission to see all of Hill's recorded work released.