Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Great Harry Hillman: Tilt

13

The Great Harry Hillman: Tilt

The Great Harry Hillman: Tilt
The Great Harry Hillman formed a little more than one hundred years after its American namesake won three gold medals in the 1904 Summer Olympics. Despite the naming convention, the group is Lucerne-based and not yet well-known on this side of the Atlantic. The quartet is a collective effort in composition and performance, and that democratic philosophy is reflected in the eclectic choice of music on Tilt.

German born multi-reedist Nils Fischer plays saxophone and bass clarinet, favoring a genre-free setting. He moved to Lucerne, Switzerland in 2008, studying with a number of well-known regional artists and earning a Master of Performance degree. Guitarist David Koch, a native of Switzerland, was originally a flautist covering a broad spectrum of music from Irish folk to klezmer, where he took up guitar. A Master of Arts and another Swiss native, Samuel Huwyler began his musical life as a guitarist before moving to bass. Dominik Mahnig was born in the home of the Swiss jazz festival, Willisau, a setting that would become a significant influence on his musical life. A drummer from an early age, he has performed with Mark Dresser and Simon Nabatov, among others.

"Snozelen" opens with Dominik Mahnig's wash of cymbals and Koch's crystalline guitar, imparting an air of mystery. Mahnig slowly builds to a frenetic barrage, counter to the otherwise reflective mood of the piece. Fischer joins in on saxophone, maintaining the shadowy ambience of the opening. "Strengen Denkt An" takes a different tack as Mahnig and Huwyler's pounding introduction leads to Koch's dominant, hard-rock guitar. Fischer switches to bass clarinet, completely changing the nature of the piece, but not labeling the style in any specific way. "The New Fragrance" takes yet another turn, as a loosely structured and pleasing romp with Latin tinges, while "354°" takes a slightly disjointed melody and builds in intensity, culminating in a fiery Fischer saxophone solo.

There is a great deal of variety on Tilt from the expansive "Agnes Fliegt" and "Remazing Ace" to the abstract "How to Dice an Onion" and electronically influenced "Moustache." All non- conventional, immediately accessible and, most importantly, fun to listen to. Like their two previous albums Livingston (RecordJet, 2013), and Veer Off Course (Klaeng Records, 2015), The Great Harry Hillman masterfully blends atmospherics with improvisation and Tilt should bring the group some well-deserved recognition in the U.S.

Track Listing

Snozelen; Strengen Denkt An; The New Fragrance; 354; Agnes Fliegt; Remazing Ace; How to Dice an Onion; Moustache.

Personnel

Nils Fischer: saxophone, bass clarinet; David Koch: guitar; Samuel Huwyler: bass; Dominik Mahnig: drums.

Album information

Title: Tilt | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Cuneiform Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.