3:33⅓ - Andrew Hill - Point of Departure (New Monastery)
Fall of 1996 my brother went to Wesleyan University in Connecticut and he reapplied for his position as the coolest person in my life. His roommate was a kid from the suburbs of Philadelphia named Colin Patrick. He taught my brother the word jawn. He was a fan of jazz. He liked Fugazi. I think he had his own car. I thought Steve was so cool, I thought Colin was so cool My brother got a radio show, he brought home a record from a group called the Roots I had never heard of, he talked openly about drinking beer in front of my parents. And he brought home jazz records. I remember vividly Steve picking up the Andrew Hill album “Point of Departure”. He told me that Eric Dolphy was cool, told me Tony Williams was cool, told me this music was cool. I don’t know why but my Dad, Steve and maybe Colin Patrick himself put it into the CD player inside the Toyota Previa and drove all over Bennington College’s campus listening to this music. It was an amazing morning. Just being with your family and with a great new jazz record. I was legitimately hearing some of those chords, those textures, those feels for the first time. It all felt so new and it felt like a secret club everyone could be invited to. It gave me a certain jazz feeling I’ve been chasing since then and I was glad to pick it up on vinyl over at Barely Brothers and really glad to share it with you on Jazz88.