A nonet date Andrew Hill recorded for Blue Note across two sessions, November 7 and 14, 1969, at Van Gelder Studio. And then it sat. The tapes went into the Blue Note vault and stayed there for thirty-four years — only seeing the light of day in 2003, when archivist Michael Cuscuna finally pulled them out for CD release. The Tone Poet edition (2021) was the first time Passing Ships ever appeared on vinyl, more than a half-century after it was cut.
It's an unusual record in the Hill catalog: a nine-piece ensemble instead of the small groups he'd worked with through the mid-'60s. The lineup is a who's-who of late-'60s Blue Note — Woody Shaw and Dizzy Reece on trumpet, Julian Priester on trombone, Joe Farrell on reeds and flute, Howard Johnson on tuba, Bob Northern on French horn, Ron Carter on bass, Lenny White on drums — letting Hill arrange in a much wider sonic field than usual.
Cool stuff:
- Sat in the vault for 34 years. Recorded 1969, first released in 2003 on CD by archivist Michael Cuscuna, finally pressed to vinyl in 2021
- Nine-piece ensemble — much larger than Hill's typical quartet or sextet dates, with French horn, tuba, and a full brass and reed front line
- Ron Carter and Lenny White anchor the rhythm section — the same Lenny White who'd join Return to Forever a few years later
- Tone Poet pressing is a 2LP cut all-analog by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, manufactured at RTI in deluxe gatefold packaging
Spin it for: a great lost Hill record finally getting its proper vinyl treatment — orchestral textures, tricky writing, A-list players.
Standouts: "Sideways" · "Passing Ships" · "Plantation Bag" · "Yesterday's Tomorrow"
Sources: Blue Note Records · London Jazz Collector · Analog Planet · uDiscover Music · Discogs