For those not in the know, Hartford, CT-Based Pianist/Composer Andrew Wilcox pens an open letter to the Mentors and Influences that shaped him on his dazzling debut album, Dear Mr. Hill, available August 16th, 2024 from Truth Revolution Recording Collective.

The title of Dear Mr. Hill, the engaging debut album by the gifted, Hartford-based pianist and composer Andrew Wilcox, is addressed to the legendary Andrew Hill. But the album as a whole, a spirited mix of original compositions and keenly chosen standards, is a missive from Wilcox to the many mentors and influences that have guided him along his path.

“The elements that are at the core of this album are the people, places and things that have inspired me along the way,” Wilcox says. “Andrew Hill’s music hit me in a very deep, emotional place. It was the first time I’d heard somebody who was able to paint such complex emotional portraits in ways that I’d never heard before.”

Thus, Dear Mr. Hill not only conveys the musical inspiration of those teachers and influences, but surrounds Wilcox with them. The album teams Wilcox with the veteran rhythm section of bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Yoron Israel, both of whom have taken the young pianist under their prodigious wings. The date was produced by fellow pianist and Truth Revolution co-founder Zaccai Curtis, while the liner notes were penned by the trumpeter Haneef Nelson.

1. Muir Woods
2. Mary
3. Home
4. Dear Mr. Hill
5. Stella By Starlight
6. Self-Doubt
7. Old Devil Moon
8. Onyx Warrior
9. Snow Queen

Recorded almost two years ago, his debut album opens on the all-encompassing Muir Woods (itself a tribute to the towering redwoods of the Bay Area forest) and then brings us the durable, yet supple Mary (dedicated to a close friend of Wilcox’s family), and then come both the impassioned, titular Dear Mr. Hill and the reharmonized standard Stella By Starlight.

With the album reflecting a broader base of influence and experience than just Wilcox’s musical evolution, along next is the penetrating Self-Doubt and that is in turn backed seamlessly by the encouraging standard Old Devil Moon, the recording rounding out on the audacious Onyx Warrior (which pays homage to the late drummer Ralph Peterson Jr.), the enticingly-sculpted Snow Queen (an ode to the Wilcox’s sadly missed golden retriever Koa) closing the set.

Andrew Wilcox - Dear Mr Hill [Official Video]

www.andrewwilcoxmusic.com

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