Customer Reviews

Dialogue

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD, long out of print, is among the best avant-garde CDs put out by Blue Note records in the mid-60s -- right up there with Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch and Andrew Hill's Point of Departure. All 3 albums have the same exploratory, progressive attitude without forsaking swing or the blues. Things kick off with the demented mambo "Catta". Composer Andrew Hill splashes dissonant piano chords over the dance rhythms, Sam Rivers blows fiery lines on the tenor sax, Freddie Hubbard shows off his avant-garde trumpet credentials, and then Bobby Hutcherson provides his spacy, cerebral vibraphone musings. Hill gets the same twisted, off-kilter feel on the blues "Ghetto Lights". "Idle While" is an eerie Joe Chambers ballad. The two collective improvisations "Les Noirs Marchent" (set to a marching rhythm) and "Dialogue" are among the finest of their kind -- instead of getting into a blowing cacophony, all six musicians listen carefully to each other and the music has a natural ebb and flow. Bassist Richard Davis's playing holds the enterprise together, stretching and contracting as the music demand.

Dialogue is an essential listen for most fans of adventurous 60s jazz. If you like Dialogue, there are other Blue Note albums that should tickle your fancy: Out to Lunch (with Hutcherson, Davis, and Hubbard), Point of Departure (with Hill and Davis), Jackie McLean's Let Freedom Ring, and Tony Williams's Life Time (with Rivers, Davis and Hutcherson). Be sure to pick up Hutcherson's Components (with Chambers and Hubbard) and Stick-Up as well.

With much of Bobby Hutcherson's transient Blue Note catalog slowly becoming scarce the reissue of perhaps his best session as part of the Rudy Van Gelder series is most welcome. The lineup features a virtual who's-who of 1960s Blue Note post bop sessionmen. Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Sam Rivers (tenor sax, various), Hutcherson (vibes & marimba), Andrew Hill (piano), Richard Davis (bass), Joe Chambers (drums) effortlessly transition from straightahead bop sound into very "free" territory. Some express concern that "Dialogue" is on the adventerous side, but I find most of it to be very palatable. I'm only more impressed by how seamlessly the session comes together even with its more adventerous passages. The compositions on the album are split between Hill and Chambers and are extraodinary. The sound is probably the biggest selling point for this disc. The entire RVG series is spoken of with awe for how closely the CD's sound to the original vinyl, and "Dialogue" continues that trend. The sound is warm with great physical spacing between the instruments.

"Dialogue" instantly becomes the point of entry for acquainting oneself with Bobby Hutcherson's Blue Note work. Many thanks to the label for making it available again.

I've always been a little puzzled by the reputation of this album, which is regarded with something like awe by Blue Note aficionados. It's of course a landmark in the label's experiment in the 1960s with avantgarde jazz, & is also notable as being Hutcherson's first disc as a leader, & as fielding what's basically the house "avantgarde" team: Hutcherson, Hill, Hubbard, Rivers, Davis, Chambers. Between them these musicians appeared in various combinations on classics of the period such as Dolphy's _Out to Lunch_, Hill's _Point of Departure_ & Moncur's _Evolution_.

& yet I find this an album easier to admire than love (unlike those last three discs I named). Part of the problem is that often the musicians are on instruments I don't especially enjoy hearing them on. Sam Rivers is on flute for two tracks, bass clarinet for one (the long title-track); & Hutcherson is using marimba for half the album. "Catta" is the strongest, most distinctive composition here, the creation of Andrew Hill: it's in 8/8 time, with a grinding repetitive piano accompaniment which is actually often rather more absorbing than the solos over top of it (Rivers is in rather middling form here; Hubbard & Hutcherson much better). The dissonantly harmonized waltz "Idle While", the soulful "Ghetto Lights" & the quite straightforward blues "Jasper" (an outtake from the session, for some reason--it could easily have fit on the original LP) are likeable; but I find the two "free" tracks, "Les Noirs Marchant" & "Dialogue", rather tough going. They are interesting for being quite unlike what anyone else what doing in free jazz at that moment, their spacious interplay anticipating European free-improv rather than being at all like the work of Ayler, Coleman & Coltrane. Still, almost 17 solid minutes of this rather fugitive interplay bogs the album down somewhat.

A "classic" I suppose, but it's one that seems to me ultimately almost time-locked. Still, with most of Hutcherson's Blue Notes enjoying only brief lives in the catalogue before they disappear, it's certainly worth acquiring. Curious how the careers of these players were so soon to diverge, with Hutcherson & Hubbard never sounding this adventurous again after the 1960s, while Rivers & Hill continued on their stubbornly independent musical paths.

Blue Note is often credited with a 'different approach' to 60's avant garde jazz. The difference, I would say, is due to a more studied, cerebral quality among the Blue Note issues.

Hutcherson himself credits the expansive mood prevalent in New York City at the time--a willingness to 'cross-pollinate' art forms typified by the outdoor 'happenings' that were part of the scene.

This record, "Dialogue", has the feel of synchronicity: six players on the same wavelength. The core of the record is formed by the two tracks, "Les Nois Marchant" and "Dialogue" which dovetail into each other seamlessly, with the feel of exploratory 20th Century chamber music. The ragtag processional, "Marchant" has a bit lighter mood than "Dialogue", which revolves around a repeated, stalking bass line.

The rest of the record, frankly, seems haunted by the ghost of Eric Dolphy. One wonders if he would have participated in the sessions, had he not met an untimely death. "Idle While" sounds very like "Ode to Charlie Parker" from Dolphy's "Far Cry", although Hutcherson's floating vibes provide a supranormal glow to the piece. Sam Rivers provides Dolphyesque bass clarinet to the slightly off kilter blues, "Ghetto Lights", as well as a great, laid back soprano sax solo.

Much of the music here anticipates directions that music would take in the next decade, predating the Art Ensemble of Chicago's forays into 'little instruments', and British progressive rockers like King Crimson openly acknowledge that they were listening to the Blue Note releases. They would certainly have heard this one, because King Crimson improvs were very similar in feel to this.

The musicians on "Dialogue" are uniformly great. Freddie Hubbard and Richard Davis contribute some of their finest playing on record. This is a mentally stimulating record that will get those endorphins going--with no sweat involved.

Don't pass it by.

This is mostly an Adrew Hill date, he provides most of the compositions and when comparing it with other dates by him, it is evident that he was the man behind this date. All players get equal space to solo, including Bobby Hutcherson. He is great all around, but my favourite moment is Freddie Hubbard solo on "catta', this might be my favourite all time solo of him. This one deserves to be called a Blue Note classic indeed.

Many people mention this album in the same breath as Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch and Andrew Hill's Point of Departure, and true, the similarities are striking. Both share much of the same personnel (Richard Davis being the man present on all occasions) and style, with elaborate, "structured-free" compositions, and very impressionistic soloing from all concerned.

That said, it's not the equal of Out to Lunch or Point of Departure...the themes are even more striking on those two, and the soloing is probably better. So get those 2 first to really learn what the kind of exploratory, blending tradition with radicalism style of the 60's really was. Once you have those, buy this.

This is really Andrew Hill's album in a way...most of the compositions (save 2 by drummer Chambers) are his, and while he has limited solo space you can see his touch over everything the others play. Hubbard is in very fine form here, proving he could be as avant-garde as anyone else (he often, unfairly, is considered solely to be a "groove" trumpeter.) Rivers only solos twice, but both solos (particularly his soprano) are two of the finest on record. Hutcherson plays great, especially on the title track. Joe Chambers is no Tony Williams, but he reminds you that he is one of the most underrated drummers in history. As for the bassist, Richard Davis, he is very much the un-sung hero of this album, as well as "Departure" and "Lunch." His bass lines combine both walking and strumming, and add to the colorful mix, while also providing an anchor to hold it together.

For the musically daring lovers of jazz, this needs to be in your collection...place it third behind Out to Lunch and Point of Departure and you've got it made.

While Blue Note may have been known during the early-to-mid 60s for its string of soul-flavored boogaloo records, there was also during that same period an outpouring of forward thinking, experimental post-bop that challenged the boundaries of jazz convention without dispensing altogether with structure. Led by artists such as Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Grachan Moncur III, Jackie McLean, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, Blue Note's offerings from 1962-65 were without peer. And if I'm making a list of my favorite Blue Note recordings, regardless of era, then I'm placing Hutcherson's Dialogue in the top five.

Though is nominally a Hutcherson record, it is in many ways an Andrew Hill record; adventurous, yet accessible. Hill composed four of the albums' six songs, and the flavor of Hill's jagged and harmonically dense piano is predominant throughout the record. The opening song, "Catta," is a clear example of Hill's unique approach to composition, placing a repetitive line on top of an odd-metered mambo rhythm. Also evident throughout is Hill's penchant for probing the outer boundaries of meter and harmony, while keeping one foot firmly rooted in compositional structure. But that's not to belittle the contributions of Hutcherson, whose unique approach to the vibes, with it's airy, spacious feel, gives the recording that unmistakable Hutcherson sound.

Another important contributor is the vastly underrated drummer/composer, Joe Chambers. Along with having one of the best grooves this side of Billy Higgins, Chambers is an excellent composer. His contributions "Idle While," a beautiful, lilting waltz-time number, and "Dialogue," with its outward leaning, spooky haunted house feel, illustrate his unique compositional talents.

I would be remiss not to mention the contributions of this records' A-list supporting cast, which includes trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers on tenor and soprano sax, as well as bass clarinet and flute, and the amazing Richard Davis on bass. Hubbard once again shows his ability to stretch beyond the conventions of his hard-bop roots, and Rivers shows his incredible versatility as a multi-reedist. I have to take exception with N. Dorward of Toronto's remark that Rivers is in "middling form" on "Catta." While I do concur that it is perhaps the strongest composition here, Rivers' tenor solo is wonderful; well constructed, purposeful and probing, without losing site of the song's melody. And as usual, you will not find a better, more versatile bass player than Richard Davis, a classically-trained player with an ear for melodic exploration.

Hutcherson made a number of appearances on the Blue Note label during the early-to-mid 60s, and I've yet to find one that I don't like. Other excellent examples of Hutcherson at his best include his other collaborations with Hill, Andrew!!! and Judgment, as well as Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch, Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond and Destination Out, Grachan Moncur III's Evolution, Grant Green's Idle Moments, as well as Hutcherson's own Oblique, Stick-Up and Happenings. I highly recommend this recording for anyone that's a fan of avant-garde or post-bop jazz, as well as any fan of Andrew Hill. This is clearly a case of a pure five-star record, and not the typical gushing, hyperbole-filled amazon five-stars.

'Dialogue' is one of the most listenable of the mid-sixties avante-garde Blue Note dates. Comparisons are drawn here and elsewhere to Dolphy's 'Out to Lunch' and Hill's 'Point of Departure', but 'Dialogue' has more tonality and rhythm to balance the dissonance. This disc finds its way into my CD player five times as often as the other two mentioned.

*

If it appeals, you might seek out Hutcherson's 'Happenings', currently available on Amazon as a moderately priced Japanese import. Herbie Hancock features, and his playing is as interesting here as it is anywhere - the feel is more intense than on 'Dialogue', the startling cerise cover art a fair indication of what awaits. 'Vertigo' by Jackie McLean features similarly inspired piano work from Herbie, while McLean's 'One Step Beyond' has the leader in fabulous 'in and out' form, and Hutcherson bringing along a variety of intriguing moods - this album is available, with 24bit remastering, through Mosaic records in their Grachan Moncur 'Select' release; another McLean disc, 'Destination Out', available readily as an RVG remaster, has Hutcherson at his most intricate and surprising, the sparse arrangements giving room to hear all his nuances.

*

Another great date with Hutcherson and Hill is the latter's 'Judgment!'; and there's also Big John Patton's disc, 'Let 'Em Roll', which just might be his best, with Hutcherson, Grant Green, and Otis Finch on drums. Most of the discs with Hutcherson as leader are excellent, albeit less surprising than 'Dialogue' and 'Happenings'; 'Patterns' has some particularly beautiful moments; 'The Kicker' and 'Stick-Up' are solid, the latter showcasing Joe Henderson's talent; 'Oblique', with Herbie again, is due to be re-released on the 2nd of August, 2005; the magic is lost, however, on 'Medina', the release of these sessions having been deferred for good reason.

*

'Dialogue' wound rank in my top ten of all Blue Notes.

This might be a first: a rather "out" jazz album with no negative Amazon reviews. It's far from perfect, too, as much as I like it. With six egos given equal authority, Dialogue edges dangerously close to proving the old idiom "too many cooks spoil the broth". A mess though it may be, however, it's a glorious mess.

In "Les Noirs Marchant" and the title track, the album's reputation is solidified as the concept of a soloist is thrown out the window in favor of cacophonous group improvisation. The result is lacking the definition of songs like the mambo-esque "Catta", miasmic even, but architectural insight abounds.

Even the more conventional tracks possess an imposingly forward-thinking aura. In "Idle While", what could have merely been wistful ballad is given deep contrapuntal density by Richard Davis' sinewy bass interplay, while Andrew Hill does some weird, weird things with pedals in "Jasper" that give the impression of the song warping and tearing at the seams at its climax. It's a testament to the fact that pre-fusion jazz was capable of all sorts of otherworldly suggestion before tacky canned world/new age sounds were foisted upon the genre.

So, overall, a luminous if sometimes overly busy session that goes to show it's not the tools that matter, but what you can do with them. Well deserving of its "overlooked classic" accolades.

This disc gathers the three players who pushed Blue Note jazz furthest in the direction of the avant garde in the late 1960s: Hutcherson on vibes, Andrew Hill on piano, and Sam Rivers on tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet, and flute. Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Richard Davis on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums round out the session. The disc alternates between rhythmically and harmonically complex tunes written by Hill and more free tunes written by Chambers. The Hill tunes--"Catta," "Les Noirs Marchant," "Ghetto Lights," and "Jasper"--are all five stars. As is typical of Hill's compositions, he makes use of the all six players in the group to layer complex rhythms and harmonies and does so without sacrifing the real fire and inspiration the group plays with, especially on "Catta." "Jasper"--a bonus track not on the original album--is more of a straight ahead blues that includes some tremendous soloing by both Rivers and Hubbard.

The free compositions by Chambers--"Idle While" and "Dialogue"--don't reach the heights of the Hill compositions. Free jazz works best when someone really takes the lead--or when several players do simultaneously--but no one really does that here, making all of the players seem a bit unsure of themselves. "Dialogue" is just that, a dialogue between the players. However, their lines and responses and extremely abbreviated--typically about one measure long--so their musical "conversation" never really takes off.

This is especially recommended for fans of Hill's compositions, though he isn't given much solo time. Those looking for some great 60s avant garde stuff on Blue Note should check out Rivers' "Contours" or "Fuscia Swing Song" before returning back here.