Album Review: Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill from Rick Roe

Album:  Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill
Artist:  Rick Roe
Label: Cold Plunge Records
Websites:  gregghilljazz.com
roejazz.com

Pianist Rick Roe is joined by drummer Nate Winn and bassist Robert Hurst for his 2024 release, Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill, a heartfelt homage to Lansing-based composer Gregg Hill.  The trio morphs twelve compelling tracks by Hill that explore bop jazz from swinging romps to caressing ballads and improvised lyricism.

Starting off with the freestyle rivulets of Roe in “Elden’s Bop,” his frilly whorls and zestful playing is bolstered by the jaunty beats of Nate Winn’s robust drumming.  The track is followed up by the swinging rhythm of “Ducks Night Out,” seeing Robert Hurst’s arco bass propelling the bopping grooves as Roe's improvised doodles on the keys scroll animated notations along the melodic patterns.

The trio's zealous approach continues through “Mr. Pea,” a frothy romp that showcases Roe’s lively piano work intertwined with the vigorous interplay of the bass and drums.  Slowing down to a gentle rustle along "Julie's Tune," highlighted by the arching thrust of Hurst’s bowed bass as Roe's keys flicker, flare, and quake in spontaneous and lyrical formations.

“Sunday Special" kindles a laid-back mood as the shuffling rhythm props the soft fomenting of Roe's rustling keys.  For “Tribute,” the album’s title track, the trio articulates traditional bop idioms latticed in arco bass weaves, pumping drumbeats, and undulating keys.  Fissures of percolating keys and rumbling beats create a kaleidoscope of melodic motifs across “Floating Candles,"

“Ballade” settles into a comfy stride with Roe's keys scrolling dynamic patterns as the bass and drums coast into a fluid gait. The jumping rhythm of “Sharrie Sharrie” enhances the element of spontaneity in the arrangement as each musician plays a role in the springy choreography, creating a environment that promotes off-the-cuff jamming and riffing.

Roe's jutting keys and the simmering beats of the bass and drums garner a breezy atmosphere through “Soul Element," cruising into the simpatico dialogue of "Summer Nights," as the sporadic twinkles of Roe's keys are encrusted in clusters of rippling drumbeats and arco bass plaits.  The final track, “The Singer," encapsulates the trio's symbiotic rapport as the trio plays whimsical patterns while producing a cohesive integration.

Rick Roe and his trio celebrate the depth and variety of Gregg Hill’s compositions in Tribute: The Music of Gregg Hill.   The recording displays the trio's symbiotic rapport, showing that jazz is an evolving conversation among its musicians, jamming and riffing off-the-cuff, moving in a spontaneous fashion, and forming harmonious integration that constructs lyrical patterns.

Musicians:
Rick Roe: piano
Robert Hurst: bass
Nate Winn: drums