In their fourth collaboration on Origin Records, bassist and bandleader Rodney Whitaker and Central Michigan composer Gregg Hill strike gold once again, backed by a formidable gathering of musicians. Hill’s music has experienced a surge in interest due to his prolific releases on Origin, which have featured musicians in and around the impressive jazz faculty roster at Michigan State University, a program with Whitaker at the helm.
Hill’s compositions have a notable sound uniquely tied to both urban Detroit and the Michigan countryside. Sweeping melodies seem to express the structured machinations of daily urban reality, while others feel like wispy clouds hanging over lakefront countryside in the isolation of a Michigan winter. The opening two tracks are…