''Compulsion!!!!!'' is a studio album by American jazz pianist
Andrew Hill. It was originally released in 1967 under the
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...
Label as BST 84217. In its album review, ''Billboard'' wrote of ''Compulsion!!!!!'', "The wild, yet disciplined piano of Andre Hill is the driving force behind this strange and moving record."
''Billboard'', March 11, 1967, p. 52
/ref> It was remaster
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
ed by Rudy Van Gelder
Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...
in 2006. Featured musicians include trumpeter Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
, tenor saxophonist John Gilmore John Gilmore may refer to:
* John Gilmore (activist) (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Cygnus Solutions
* John Gilmore (musician) (1931–1995), American jazz saxophonist
* John Gilmore (representative) (1780–1845), ...
, bassist Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums.
Biography Early life and career
McBee was born in Tu ...
and drummer Joe Chambers
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
.
Background and album concept
Hill's intention was to "...construct an album expressing the legacy of the Negro
In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
tradition," and to use the piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
more as a percussive instrument than a melodic one.[Original album liner notes, by ]Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. Fol ...
The second number, "Legacy", was dedicated to the Afro-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
legacy, and is followed by "Premonition", which Hill described as " indicating not alone a look ahead, but rather a sufficiently revealing look backward, so that you can really begin to know what may come."[ The album concludes with "Limbo", a 20-bar tune, a piece written to represent the state in which Hill considered the majority of Afro-Americans to be in at the time, not drawing on their heritage.][
]
Track listing
All compositions by Andrew Hill
# "Compulsion" – 14:15
# "Legacy" – 5:50
# "Premonition" – 10:32
# "Limbo" – 10:17
Personnel
* Andrew Hill – piano
* Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
– trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
, flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
(Except track 2)
* John Gilmore John Gilmore may refer to:
* John Gilmore (activist) (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Cygnus Solutions
* John Gilmore (musician) (1931–1995), American jazz saxophonist
* John Gilmore (representative) (1780–1845), ...
– tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
, bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
(Except track 2)
* Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums.
Biography Early life and career
McBee was born in Tu ...
– bass
* Joe Chambers
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
– drums
* Renaud Simmons – conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
, percussion
* Nadi Qamar – percussion, African drums, thumb piano
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and pl ...
* Richard Davis – bass (track 3)
References
Sources
Compulsion page at Blue Note website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compulsion (Album)
1967 albums
Andrew Hill albums
Blue Note Records albums
Albums produced by Alfred Lion
Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio