The great eloquence of Andrew Hill as both a pianist and composer resounds throughout the veteran’s return to the Blue Note label on which he was first heard during the 1960s. Time Lines reunites the pianist with trumpeter Charles Tolliver, who joined him on several recordings during that era. Of particular local interest is the appearance of saxophonist/clarinetist Greg Tardy, presently a member of Hill’s working ensemble who lived in New Orleans as a child and returned here to make an impact on the modern jazz scene in the early 1990s playing with upcoming heavies like trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Tardy picks up the clarinet, his first instrument, on Hill’s poignant opener, “Malachi,” a tribute to the late, great bassist Malachi Favors.

 

On the album’s title cut, Hill employs the piano primarily as a percussive instrument with both horn players following suit — honking and pounding ensue atop the rolling fire of drummer Eric McPherson. While the reunion of Hill and Tolliver is certainly of historic note, Tolliver’s extraordinary teaming with Tardy is also to be celebrated. John Hebert’s upright bass can be felt at the pit of one’s stomach, much like experiencing the passing of a bass drum during a Mardi Gras parade as he opens “Ry Round 1.” Tardy’s use of the bass clarinet reinforces the low-end tonal quality of the tune established by the bassist.

 

Hill is glorious in the way he plants melodies within his compositions as heard here as well as during “Ry Round 2.” It kicks off with a head that implies a straight-ahead number and changes gears to free forms. Hill encompasses both dimensions at once, referencing his and jazz’s history. It’s pure beauty when the pianist sits center stage on the moving ballad “Whitsuntide,” which reveals his romantic side that includes a touch of whimsy expressed by an unanticipated note or phrase. Andrew Hill masters the totality of jazz within each composition, each phrase, each note of Time Lines.