Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill is a jazz composer and pianist known for writing complex and challenging work.

Hill learned the piano as a teenager, and studied under composer Paul Hindesmith. After recording his debut in 1955, Hill toured the US and played with a number of artists including Dinah Washington. He returned to New York and signed to Blue Note records in 1963. He released a number of albums for Blue Note, working with jazz greats Woody Shaw and Eric Dolphy among others.

Throughout the 70s and 80s Hill toured and recorded, though he split his time with teaching. In 1970 he became the composer in residence at Colgate University in New York State, and though he left in 1972, he carried on teaching at a number of schools across the US.

Hill returned to New York in the early 90s and played on the local jazz club circuit. He also recorded a series of acclaimed albums, including 2003’s Dusk. With a renewed interest in Hill’s work, Blue Note re-released his earlier recordings and in 2006 he released a new album, Time Lines. This was to be his last however as he died, in 2007, from lung cancer.