Andrew Hill

Point of Departure

First released1965

Point of Departure, Andrew Hill's 1966 album for Blue Note Records, was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on August 24, 1966. The session was produced by Alfred Lion and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, the legendary recording engineer known for his meticulous approach to jazz documentation. The album featured Hill's innovative piano compositions and complex harmonic structures performed by a quintet including Joe Henderson on saxophone, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Van Gelder's engineering captured the intricate interplay and dynamic range of the ensemble with his characteristic clarity and separation. The recording exemplifies the creative jazz being documented at Blue Note during the mid-1960s, showcasing Hill's modernist compositional approach within the label's tradition of high-fidelity jazz documentation.