Andrew Hill’s ‘Compulsion!!!!!’ Gets Blue Note Reissue
In March 2026, Blue Note will add the 1965 recording by the pianist-composer to their acclaimed Tone Poet Series
Andrew Hill’s 1965 record Compulsion!!!!! is among the March 2026 entries for Blue Note’s Tone Poet Series.
This mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of Compulsion!!!!! was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.
The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.
Compulsion!!!!! is among the pianist-composer’s boldest statements, an expression of the avant-garde through the prism of jazz music’s roots in African rhythms. Hill’s percussive piano drives an ensemble composed of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, saxophonist John Gilmore, bassists Cecil McBee and Richard Davis, drummer Joe Chambers, and percussionists Nedi Qamar and Renaud Simmons. Together, they tackle four evocative originals—”Compulsion,” “Legacy,” “Premonition,” and “Limbo.”
In the album’s original liner notes (written by Nat Hentoff), Hill described the growing awareness of jazz’s fundamental roots in African rhythms as a healthy element of progress. “You can best extend a heritage by understanding its past thoroughly,” Hill said. He continued to describe the contemporary moment as the “first real musical breakthrough since the be-bop period.” “The fact is, there are so many individual styles instead of everybody trying to mimic Charlie Parker and playing fast series of eighth notes and flatted notes,” Hill said. “I think this rise in individuality is linked to a growing awareness among the young players of how deep and diversified our musical roots actually are.”
“I had a compulsion to construct an album expressing the legacy of the Negro tradition,” Hill said. “For one thing, you’ll notice I try to use the piano in this set more as a percussive than as a lyrical instrument.”
In November 2025, Hill’s 1964 album Judgment! was reissued by Blue Note as part of its Classic Vinyl Reissue Series.
