Buck Hill - This is Buck Hill (Steeplechase)

Loyalty to hearth and home can be a liability to the jazzman as touring has long been a staple tactic in the hunt for notoriety and success. Most musicians accept the reality of the road as a necessary tribulation of their trade. But there are also those that buck the trend and choose to eke out a localized existence regardless of the professional consequence. Like his older Chicago peer Von Freeman, D.C.-centric saxophonist Buck Hill knows the costs of the trade-off first hand. Hill has been a Capitol-area treasure for going on four decades. He first started gigging in the 40s and the 50s led to high profile stints with the likes of Stitt, Ammons, Getz and Roach- heavy company and proof of chops that still serve him well today. There are also shades of the first four horn men in Hill’s robust tenor vernacular. Like Von Freeman and Fred Anderson his recording debut came comparatively late in the game. Prior to the date and well after Hill made his primary income through day jobs as a cabbie and post office employee (fodder for another screed entirely). He caught the ear of Steeplechase producer Nils Winther on the recommendation of Billy Hart who also supplies traps for the date. The rhythm section also includes Kenny Barron on keys and Buster Williams on bass, blue chip all the way. Jerome Kern’s ballad “Yesterdays” and Sonny Rollins “Oleo,” the two standards of the session, join Williams’ tricky “Tokudo”- a track that allows Hill a chance to show his harmonic acumen and allegiance to Trane- in comprising the record’s first half. The middle tune even makes room for an unaccompanied center section where Hill waves his band mates to the sidelines and rips through three explosive choruses alone. The platter’s second half holds three Hill originals, including the shimmering “I Am Aquarius,” the triple-time sprint “S.M.Y” and the modal “Two Chord Molly.” “…Aquarius” proves to be the standout and one of the most satisfying horn plus rhythm performances I’ve ever heard. A bold statement I realize, but one I’ll gladly stand behind. A second take of “S.M.Y.” beefs up running time to a healthy fifty-six minutes. Hill cut three more records worth of material for Steeplechase before dropping out for a stretch and returning in the late 80s with clutch of dates for Muse. His debut remains one of his best efforts and a dazzling gold doubloon in the treasure chest of 70s jazz.