RICK ROE

WAKE UP CALL – THE MUSIC OF GREGG HILL

Cold Plunge Records

Rick Roe, piano; Robert Hurst, bass; Nate Winn, drums; Marcus Elliot, tenor & soprano saxophone.

Gregg Hill is 79-years old and is largely self-taught.  He has been writing songs for as long as he can remember and his catalog is plump with nearly 200 compositions.

Rick Roe is twenty years younger than Gregg Hill, but like Hill, he is charismatic on the Detroit, Ann Arbor music scene.  Roe was a two-time semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and he won the 1994 Great American Jazz Piano Competition. He has played with jazz icons like Marcus Belgrave, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Foster, Gerald Cleaver, Wendell Harrison and Rodney Whitaker, just to name a few. Like many in this midwestern community, Roe appreciates the inspired voice of composer Gregg Hill.  Roe’s genius, as an arranger of note, tackles this awesome music composed by Gregg Hill with creativity and freedom. Consequently, each of the ten tracks of Hill’s original music show a different side to Hill’s language and personality, once it’s been infused with Rick Roe’s unique arrangements.

The first thing I notice is the wonderful way this pianist ‘swings!’  The group’s opening tune is titled “Inside Straight” and it shuffles into my listening room with Marcus Elliot shining on his tenor saxophone.  When Rick Roe enters, tantalizing me with a piano solo that dances above the rich, powerful rhythm section, I am intrigued.  Robert Hurst takes a brilliant bass solo, with the notes tumbling over each other, like an excited conversationalist trying to get the story told in a brief amount of time. Then they trade fours with Nate Winn on drums.  This is a bluesy tune that is just pure fun. These musicians infuse it with joy.

“Sunspiration” is a happy jazz waltz.  This time, Marcus Elliot brings his soprano saxophone to the party.  When they cover Gregg Hill’s composition that is the title tune of this album, “Wake Up Call” swings with punctuated breaks and staccato notes that briskly punch out the melody.  I enjoyed the beauty of the ballad, “Wide River” with that wonderful melody and exuding a peaceful feeling that spreads across my listening room like a sunrise.

“The Return of Mr. Pea” quickly becomes one of my favorites on this album with its Straight-ahead excitement and Nate Winn kicking the tune into ‘swing’ mode with precision and energy.

Every song on this album is well-written and beautifully arranged, The combination of Rick Roe’s talents as a pianist and arranger, combined with Gregg Hill’s formidable composer abilities, offers nearly an hour of well-produced jazz for our listening pleasure.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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