I was always puzzled by the fact that Hill kept making this Creole Haitian connection when there seems to be no evidence of that. Was he misinformed by his parents? Or was it some sort of obfuscation on his part?
Regarding Hill’s singular music, some interesting insights can be gathered from Joe Chambers. Through a musician acquaintance, a pianist by the name of Andres Vial - who is on Chambers newest Blue Note album – the drummer says that recording sessions were quite difficult, especially for the horn players, who had trouble getting a handle of his pieces. Hill himself apparently had trouble playing these for them on the piano.
Marc, Hill absolutely knew that he was not from Haiti. I just added that info to the post. He later admitted that he very consciously did this in order to make himself stand out when he looked for gigs. And he said it worked. He specifically mentioned that more colleges hired him when he said he was a jazz musician from Haiti.
Thanks for the musical information as well. This would most likely indicate some problems in the notation--probably rhythms that were not clearly notated--but I haven't looked into this.
It's interesting to hear Andrew talking about his brother being a classical pianist. The story he told Leonard Feather (per the liner notes to JUDGMENT!) is that his brother was a classical *violinist* and singer.
My suspicion is that neither were true. I think a good bit of Hill's dissembling was sublimation for the truly crippling poverty in which he grew up. Which is too bad, because some of the real-life details are fascinating!
I talked with Andrew a few times after concerts towards the end of his life, warm but not very talkative. When I interviewed Marty Erhlich for my thesis, I proposed that Andrew often let the music take shape vs. really directing the musicians, and Marty agreed with that assessment though that was most likely concerning his later sextet.
I appreciate Andrew admitting that things don't always sound good, or work out, in his music and notice (particularly in Blue Note alternate takes and unreleased cuts) that there are moments captured where he isn't at his best.
I will consistently point to the solo "Verona Rag" as a moment he so fully captures, that it validates his musicianship utterly. He just wasn't so much of a session player, usually his own recordings are well realized and he did throw together some fine tunes on his sideman hits even if he rarely sounds as perfect as Herbie, McCoy or Sonny Clark do on other's recordings.
Thanks for these great comments, Daniel. Verona Rag is a good suggestion. Another of my former grad students, Jeff Lovell (he graduated before you I think), published an analysis of Verona Rag here: https://jjs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/jjs/article/view/4
I have to wonder whether the point Andrew Hill was making about A Creole Haitian connection was one about the founding of an African-diasporic American community in Chicago, linked to the founding of Chicago by Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable in the 1700s. DuSable was a creole (Black by American dichotomous geal/cultural definitions) who was born in Haiti (slave mother, French father) and who was a trader who supposedly founded Chicago. See this link or others: https://www.dusableheritage.com/history
Multiple things in Chicago are named for DuSable including a famous (predominantly Black) high school on Chicago's South Side that was well known for it's music program and to which many jazz great went (Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Richard Davis, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, John Gilmore).
I think the link between Chicago and it's Haitian-Creole roots may well be stressed in the oral traditions passed down among Chicago African American families. It stakes a claim of African diasporic origins of Chicago. It also evokes the creole origins of jazz in New Orleans and links to the New Orleans- Chicago- Mississippi migration patterns through which people and culture moved. I suspect these are the points Hill may have been making.
Hello David, thank you for sharing the info about Haitian connections in Chicago. To be clear, that may be where Hill got the idea to say that he was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti (as opposed to somewhere else). But you are being too nice to suggest that Hill was trying to make some cultural/political point. In his own words, he made it up to get gigs--this is from Encyclopedia Britannica but can also be found in other Hill interviews:
<<Hill freely admitted that he had made up the story of his Haitian origins. “I used to blame it on other people, but it was me, and [jazz writer] A. B. Spellman helped me plot the crime,” he said to Phil Johnson of the London newspaper the Independent. “I was born in Chicago and had no interest in Haiti or patois, but that enabled me to get gigs on the college circuit, the Dave Brubeck thing, you know? People looked at jazz music as exotic and pretending you came from Haiti helped.”>> I will add this to the post to avoid further confusion. Hill is well known to have misled journalists on other matters as well.
I was always puzzled by the fact that Hill kept making this Creole Haitian connection when there seems to be no evidence of that. Was he misinformed by his parents? Or was it some sort of obfuscation on his part?
Regarding Hill’s singular music, some interesting insights can be gathered from Joe Chambers. Through a musician acquaintance, a pianist by the name of Andres Vial - who is on Chambers newest Blue Note album – the drummer says that recording sessions were quite difficult, especially for the horn players, who had trouble getting a handle of his pieces. Hill himself apparently had trouble playing these for them on the piano.
Marc, Hill absolutely knew that he was not from Haiti. I just added that info to the post. He later admitted that he very consciously did this in order to make himself stand out when he looked for gigs. And he said it worked. He specifically mentioned that more colleges hired him when he said he was a jazz musician from Haiti.
Thanks for the musical information as well. This would most likely indicate some problems in the notation--probably rhythms that were not clearly notated--but I haven't looked into this.
Thank you very much for this, Lewis!
It's interesting to hear Andrew talking about his brother being a classical pianist. The story he told Leonard Feather (per the liner notes to JUDGMENT!) is that his brother was a classical *violinist* and singer.
My suspicion is that neither were true. I think a good bit of Hill's dissembling was sublimation for the truly crippling poverty in which he grew up. Which is too bad, because some of the real-life details are fascinating!
Thanks Michael. I know you're researching Hill, and I'm looking forward to reading it when it's available.
Thanks Lew! That's the stuff.
I talked with Andrew a few times after concerts towards the end of his life, warm but not very talkative. When I interviewed Marty Erhlich for my thesis, I proposed that Andrew often let the music take shape vs. really directing the musicians, and Marty agreed with that assessment though that was most likely concerning his later sextet.
I appreciate Andrew admitting that things don't always sound good, or work out, in his music and notice (particularly in Blue Note alternate takes and unreleased cuts) that there are moments captured where he isn't at his best.
I will consistently point to the solo "Verona Rag" as a moment he so fully captures, that it validates his musicianship utterly. He just wasn't so much of a session player, usually his own recordings are well realized and he did throw together some fine tunes on his sideman hits even if he rarely sounds as perfect as Herbie, McCoy or Sonny Clark do on other's recordings.
Thanks for these great comments, Daniel. Verona Rag is a good suggestion. Another of my former grad students, Jeff Lovell (he graduated before you I think), published an analysis of Verona Rag here: https://jjs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/jjs/article/view/4
And the album is on all the streaming platforms.
I have to wonder whether the point Andrew Hill was making about A Creole Haitian connection was one about the founding of an African-diasporic American community in Chicago, linked to the founding of Chicago by Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable in the 1700s. DuSable was a creole (Black by American dichotomous geal/cultural definitions) who was born in Haiti (slave mother, French father) and who was a trader who supposedly founded Chicago. See this link or others: https://www.dusableheritage.com/history
Multiple things in Chicago are named for DuSable including a famous (predominantly Black) high school on Chicago's South Side that was well known for it's music program and to which many jazz great went (Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Richard Davis, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, John Gilmore).
I think the link between Chicago and it's Haitian-Creole roots may well be stressed in the oral traditions passed down among Chicago African American families. It stakes a claim of African diasporic origins of Chicago. It also evokes the creole origins of jazz in New Orleans and links to the New Orleans- Chicago- Mississippi migration patterns through which people and culture moved. I suspect these are the points Hill may have been making.
Hello David, thank you for sharing the info about Haitian connections in Chicago. To be clear, that may be where Hill got the idea to say that he was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti (as opposed to somewhere else). But you are being too nice to suggest that Hill was trying to make some cultural/political point. In his own words, he made it up to get gigs--this is from Encyclopedia Britannica but can also be found in other Hill interviews:
<<Hill freely admitted that he had made up the story of his Haitian origins. “I used to blame it on other people, but it was me, and [jazz writer] A. B. Spellman helped me plot the crime,” he said to Phil Johnson of the London newspaper the Independent. “I was born in Chicago and had no interest in Haiti or patois, but that enabled me to get gigs on the college circuit, the Dave Brubeck thing, you know? People looked at jazz music as exotic and pretending you came from Haiti helped.”>> I will add this to the post to avoid further confusion. Hill is well known to have misled journalists on other matters as well.
Has anyone caught what Hill says here at 2:20?
"Like in most things, musicians call [unintelligible], when you get ready to go out, you hit a few hot block chords and go out."