Gilmore guy

I appreciate pianist Andrew Hill and find his music, which even early on leaned toward the avant-garde and got more so later, thought provokingly complex. But I wouldn't classify him as one of my favorites and didn't really anticipate adding any more of his CDs to my collection.

Nevertheless, I bought the recent Blue Note reissue of "Andrew!!!" because of the presence of John Gilmore, a great saxophonist little recorded outside the context of Sun Ra's groups, in which Gilmore spent most of his career.

Hill on "The Girots," the only track without Gilmore, plays like a less edgy Monk, or a more edgy Herbie Hancock and it turns out this disk overall may be the one I own that I like best as far as his playing is concerned.

Gilmore's playing is diverse throughout. He reminds me of Wayne Shorter on "Symmetry" and "Black Monday," which also features vibist Bobby Hutcherson, and he opens "Duplicity" and "Le Serpent Qui Danse" (the ensemble piece I find most interesting here) with some fine blowing definitely on the outside. Excellent bassist Richard Davis is on the date as well, yet another reason I consider it a good buy.