Dreams Come True

Andrew Hill's (1931- 2007) career experienced a sort of Indian Summer during the last years of his life. Blue Note Records released unissued and out-of-print albums from his tenure with them in the 1960s. Later decades found Hill recording for Arista-Freedom and Black Saint/Soul Note. He triumphantly returned to Blue Note in 2007 for what would be his final album, Time Lines.  

Still with us and going strong, Chico Hamilton's career has had some similarities to Hill's.  Both had started off early in their careers as sidemen but already possessed distinctive artistic voices which allowed them to fairly quickly lead their own ensembles.  In different ways both would provide revolutionary approaches to playing and composing, stretching the idiom of jazz. With great foresight and as a way of celebrating Hamilton's 85th birthday, Joyous Shout Record's Jeffrey Andrew Caddick has spent the past year recording and presenting Hamilton in various sized ensembles, ranging from live trio dates (Trio Live @ artpark) to a sort of “best of” remixed by some of the hottest turntablists (The Alternative Dimensions of El Chico) to Chico's first studio trio date since 1955 (It's About Time).  

The latest addition to Hamilton's oeuvre, Dreams Come True (2008) is a series of duets with Andrew Hill. Taken from a 1993 session, this meeting has lost none of its power with the passage of time. This recording was only the second time they had played together, the first being the 1991 Charlotte Jazz Festival.  Hamilton's impressionistic approach to his drumming is a natural fit to the angular lines Andrew creates at the piano. Both musicians are about time and a sort of sonic colorization. They have both always played/written in a way that transcends any type of genre categorization.  

With duet albums you get perhaps one of the best views of an artist, even more so than on a solo outing as there is no worry of empty spaces that need not be filled by superfluous actions. In this way we get to experience the artist in the most unadulterated way. Both artists have such a distinctive body of work that rarely do they perform covers. Here the program is made up almost entirely of originals by either artist, save for two tracks.  

The opening track and one of two covers, “Ohho” by R.Baba, has the piano start in a way reminiscent of Latin American composer/pianists (Isaac Albeniz, 1860-1909; Enrique Granados, 1867-1916; Heitor Villa-Lobos, 1887-1959) and subtly, their Moorish influences. Chico's drums punctuate the opening, slowly building a pattern that is not apparent at first. It reveals itself gradually, a great painting whose image is seen more clearly as one backs away from it. A great strength of this partnership is derived from the fact that there is never an attempt at one-upmanship. Throughout the album one gets the feeling of being allowed to listen in on a conversation between two great artists. During the mid section of the song the piano slowly morphs into a more sanctified feel as Hamilton provides a samba. The samba fades out like a watch winding down and the song goes back to its initial feel. Within the song is the power of improvisation, that in the moment excitement, yet there are no missteps or dead spaces to break the tension. Like any artists great at what they do, they make it appear easy.  

“And the Drums Sing,” written by Hamilton, finds him at times playing with mallets which he has always been able to use with great effect to create a distinctive sound. This is one of the songs that best typifies the album as a whole, illustrating how there is more than just trade-offs of who will lead or solo. Throughout, who is leading the conversation will change even within one piece. It is important to note also that two artists of such a high caliber were freed of the obligation to do an album with a typical program of burners, ballads and covers. All standard formulas are avoided. On this album and individually, both artists have always had a degree of forward-thinking intellectualism in their art but never at the cost of emotional content. The piano has a quiet contemplation about it. This song shows, too, how volume and speed are not the only methods with which to convey intensity to the audience. Both instruments end the piece with a thoughtful murmur.   

“Sculpture” was composed by Hamilton but here is played solo by Hill. There is a percussiveness to the piece but not in the same sense as one would encounter in the feeling of a piece played by a pianist of the bop/hard-bop school. Here, the lone piano begins with a stately rumble. There are runs that seem to cascade and call forth a combined vision of hand dulcimer and rain coming down at a slant. The dense clusters of notes still manage to contain much beauty and although it is a solo piece, both artists' personalities are ever present. 

“Composition B” is the bonus track, penned by Hill. The drums, fleet of feet, seem to dance across the piece. At times they have an aspect of jazz's early years of gestating in Storyville down in New Orleans. The subtle nod to a bygone era is copied by the piano, whose stuttered rhythm is bolstered by the drums and at times recalls stride ancestors. 

The sonics of the album are pristine. The tracks vary in length from three to eleven minutes with the total time being a little under an hour. There are some brief biographical notes on each artist by Gene Santoro. The artwork is nice, looking like a less frantic drawing by Basquiat (1960-1988).  

One of the things about the musicians and composers we treasure is what they have added to the their chosen medium. This album and the freedom afforded to these two artists show that they have much more to offer past their initial gifts that prompted us to treasure them.  

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