The great jazz pianist, composer and bandleader Andrew Hill succumbed to cancer this morning, according to a press announcement just circulated by publicist Jim Eigo:

I’ve been asked by composer and pianist Andrew Hill’s family to announce to the press that he died at 4 a.m. today, April 20, 2007, several years after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 75 years old and lived in Jersey City, NJ.

Hill, born June 30, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois (contrary to some previously published places and dates dates), had a lengthy international career as performer and recording artist, and educator (at Portland State University; he also gave master classes at New York University, and elsewhere; he leaves a voluminous and highly varied recorded legacy, dating from the 1950s (So In Love) to his 2006  trio album Time Lines (Blue Note), named to many critics’ top ten lists. Hill is survived by his wife Joanne Robinson Hill, and a niece, nephew and cousin, besides a devoted coterie of friends, typically creative artists and perceptive fans.

As announced on April 11, Andrew Hill will receive an honorary doctorate of music degree from Berklee College of Music at commencement May 12 [snip].

The passing of any great artist is cause for regret. But it’s gratifying to know that Hill was able to enjoy such a striking career resurgence — the release of 1999’s Dusk, the rediscovery of the phenomenal "lost" 1969 session Passing Ships, critical praise, awards and honors, and a genuinely appreciative audience — well prior to his passing. Rest in peace, Mr. Hill.

EDIT: Mwanji’s customarily thoughtful post prompts me to clarify that while the press release above was circulated by Jim Eigo, it was actually penned by Jazz Journalists Association president Howard Mandel. Here’s a bit more of Howard’s message, which I missed before.

Andrew was voted Jazz Composer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association four times, most recently in 2006; he received the 2003 JazzPar Award, and was one of the first to receive a Doris Duke Foundation Award for jazz composers. His recordings have been on Blue Note, Mosaic, Palmetto and Black Saint/Soul Note, among other labels.

Funeral and tribute information has not been determined. [snip] I first met Andrew in 1971, we kept in touch and became friendly, I regard him highly and am enriched to have known him.

Howard Mandel

Playlist:

Adolphus Hailstork – Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 – Grand Rapids Symphony/David Lockington (Naxos)

Henri Dutilleux – Complete Piano Music – John Chen (Naxos)

Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks, Vol. 23: Baltimore, MD, Sept. 17, 1972 (Grateful Dead)

Björk – Volta (Elektra, due May 8)

Air – Air Song (India Navigation)

Bloody Panda – Pheromone (Level-Plane)

The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet, due 5/22)

Taylor Ho Bynum – The Middle Picture (Firehouse 12)

Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic, due Apr 24)

Marillion – Somewhere Else (MVD Audio, due Apr 24)

Genesis – …and then there were three… and Abacab (Atlantic/Rhino remasters, due May 15)

Andrew Hill – Time Lines (Blue Note)

Charles Mingus – In Paris, October 1970: The Complete America Session (Sunnyside)