Interviews and Articles
The New YorkCity Jazz (September 2015)
All About Jazz Italia (December 2007)
JazzRadio247 (September 2006)
Toma Jazz (April 2006)
Jazz Online (2000)
All About Jazz ( September 1999)
Omnitone (Liner notes to Genius Envy -1999)
The New YorkCity Jazz (September 2015)
"It's a project that spans more than 20 years and evolved through different permutations. But the kernel remains: a love for the music of the late pianist Andrew Hill. The project has now come full circle for trumpeter Ron Horton as he brings its latest two iterations to Greenwich House Music School this month, the same venue that
hosted a Jazz Composers Collective (JCC) concert dedicated to Hill's music in 1995.
"There's something about Andrew's music…something kind of spiritual, kind of positive, kind of uplifting," says Horton."
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[Click here to see entire article in Japonese]
All About Jazz Italia (December 2007)
Earlier this year the jazz world lost Andrew Hill, one of its most creative and original pianists and composers. I was fortunate to have been exposed to his music when I was younger, and later to have heard him perform in New York in the early 1980's at a time when he lived in California and made very few trips to the East Coast. I am also very honored that he later asked me to perform in his "Point of Departure Sextet", "Sextet plus Eleven", "Anglo-American Big Band" and "Passing Ships Octet" between 1998 and 2006. (...)
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[Click here to see entire article in Italian]
JazzRadio247 (September 2006)
Rick Holland: Can you talk about some of the important people who
have influenced your creative process over the years? Andrew Hill for example?
RH: I often feel that I have had the "best seat in the house" when it comes to observing the creative process in other jazz composers. Everyone works in their own unique way, and I have been lucky to have worked with Jane Ira Bloom, the Jazz Composers Collective (Ben Allison, Frank Kimbrough, Ted Nash, Michael Blake, John Schroeder), Andy Laster, Phillip Johnston, Will Holshouser, Mario Pavone, Rez Abbasi, Bill Gerhardt and many others.
Andrew Hill is, of course, in a class by himself as one of jazz's
greatest jazz composers, and I feel blessed that he chose me to be a
member of his "Point of Departure Sextet", (1999-2003), and to be
co-arranger and musical director of his big band from 2001 to 2003. To
work so closely with someone I consider to be one of the "giants" of
jazz is a great honor to me. I am thrilled that we will be performing
again together this coming November at NY's Merkin Concert Hall.
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Toma Jazz (April 2006)
José Francisco Tapiz: You've changed from quartet in Subtextures to a septet in Everything In A Dream. What was your compositional approach to music in that recording? When you were composing and arranging the pieces included in "Everything In A Dream" did you have in your mind the musicians involved in that project?
RH: The approach for both recordings was similar, but you could say that with the quartet on Subtextures the focus was more on our playing and my compositions. With the sextet, the focus was a little more on arranging and going for a unique ensemble sound. The use of 2 basses really helped in that regard. Masa Kamaguchi and John Hebert play so well together. Writing for three horns was a way for me to expand the sound of the group, give the melodies more body and strength, and to add some inner voices and harmonies. Tony Malaby and John O'Gallagher were perfect for this purpose and are two of the greatest soloists and saxophonists that I know. Mike Sarin and I have played together for many years with Ben Allison and with bands like the Herbie Nichols Project and Allan Chase (saxophonist). Frank has been like my right arm and with me every step in my musical career. I am so grateful for all of their contributions.
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Jazz Online (2000):
JO: What influence has jazz had on your life?
RH: Since I was around 14 or 15, all I could see myself doing for the rest of my life was playing jazz, listening to jazz, eating sleeping & breathing jazz etc. I guess one could say it was my "calling". It's always been interesting to share jazz with others from all walks of life who've had a similar experience.
JO: If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
RH: Just one wish comes to mind, and it is that our society gear itself more towards making things of beauty and quality, rather than things that make people rich and famous.
JO: Complete the following……Everybody needs a little jazz in their life because ...
RH: Actually, I can't complete that thought, because I don't feel that everyone needs it. From an early age I realized that it's an "acquired taste" and that it's simply not everyone's cup of tea. Many people seem, somehow, turned off by it, which I think is unfortunate. I think what we all really do need (myself included) is to be more tolerant of other people, their viewpoints, tastes, lifestyles, and, in general, show a little more compassion for our fellow man (or woman).
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All About Jazz ( September 1999):
AAJ: Who (or what) would you cite as your influences? If any can be named, what non-musical catalytic elements seem to provide you with the most inspiration?
RH: My main influences, as I believe Bill Evans once said, are simply anyone and everyone who play well. I might add to that, as he might have, those who are great composers, arrangers, orchestrators, also.
AAJ: Is it a concern for you to avoid crossing the fine line between being “influenced by” and being “imitative”?
RH: My view of being imitative is as follows: It's okay to try to copy someone else’s style (either writing or playing) when you're in the process of figuring out how that person is achieving a sound that you get turned on by. It's natural, and we all learn something from others and hopefully move on to something else that turns us on and try to incorporate that, too. Where it seems to have gotten out of hand in the last several years, in particular, is with musicians who engulf the persona of another musician (usually one who has passed on and cannot speak out about it) and base their entire career on it. If I felt I was being too imitative of another musician (particularly a trumpeter, composer or arranger), hopefully, the first thing I would do is to stop listening to them or their recordings until I had reduced their influence. For example, one of my strongest influences from about 14-23 years of age was Lee Morgan. After that time I made a conscious decision to hardly listen anymore to him, Freddie Hubbard, Miles, Kenny Dorham, Blue Mitchell, Donald Byrd, etc. Not only because I didn't want to sound like them, but because I didn't want to sound like any of my peers that also were strongly influenced by them. From an early point in my musical development I realized that I would rather expose myself to the many thousands of other great musicians of the past as well as the dozens of exceptionally gifted musicians that I find myself surrounded by on a day to day basis.
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Omnitone (Liner notes to Genius Envy -1999):
Frank Tafuri: Your compositions sound really well constructed, which is to say I don't mean they sound unnatural. One of the things I like about your music and your compositions is that you're not just writing "standard" heads. You don't write a lead sheet and chord changes. You add harmonies and flourishes and other elements to the music which allows your pieces to be heard in a larger, compositional framework.
RH: One thing I wanted to tie in between the improvising and the composition, when I realized I was a melodic improviser, was that I was not only drawn to players who played melodically, I was immediately attracted to composers who were melodic. Frank Kimbrough falls into that category and, when I met Ben [Allison], he was that way. All the years I listened to Andrew Hill, a lot of people think Andrew's music is really "out" but, you and I both know that there are tons of beautiful melodies; it's almost Romantic music, really.A lot of people get thrown off because it's so dense that they just think it's really far out because rhythmically there's a lot of other shit going on in there. But, underlying it all, I think Andrew's a really strong melodic composer. When I started transcribing all of his tunes, I realized that every tune has really strong melodies. It was pretty enlightening.
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