Jazz piano legend Andrew Hill took a pioneering, modernistic approach to music that put him squarely in the avant-garde of his generation, though his roots also extended to bop. The Chicagoan had already worked with Dinah Washington and others when he moved to New York in the early ‘60s. As comfortable with hard bop as he was with "new thing" experimentation, Hill played with everyone from Joe Henderson to Bobby Hutcherson, but it was his solo albums that set him apart from the pack. He began his string of classic Blue Note albums in 1963, and recorded for several labels over the years.