Compulsion!!!!! is a studio album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill. It was originally released in 1967 under the Blue Note Label as BST 84217. In its album review, Billboard wrote of Compulsion!!!!!, "The wild, yet disciplined piano of Andre Hill is the driving force behind this strange and moving record."Billboard, March 11, 1967, p. 52 It was remastered by Rudy Van Gelder in 2006. Featured musicians include trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Joe Chambers.
Background and album concept Hill's intention was to "...construct an album expressing the legacy of the Negro tradition," and to use the piano more as a percussive instrument than a melodic one.Original album liner notes, by Nat Hentoff The second number, "Legacy", was dedicated to the Afro-American legacy, and is followed by "Premonition", which Hill described as "indicating not alone a look ahead, but rather a sufficiently revealing look backward, so that you can really begin to know what may come." The album concludes with "Limbo", a 20-bar tune, a piece written to represent the state in which Hill considered the majority of Afro-Americans to be in at the time, not drawing on their heritage.
Track listing All compositions by Andrew Hill "Compulsion" – 14:15 "Legacy" – 5:50 "Premonition" – 10:32 "Limbo" – 10:17
Personnel Andrew Hill – piano Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, flugelhorn (Except track 2) John Gilmore – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet (Except track 2) Cecil McBee – bass Joe Chambers – drums Renaud Simmons – conga, percussion Nadi Qamar – percussion, African drums, thumb piano Richard Davis – bass (track 3)
References
Sources Compulsion page at Blue Note website