Billy Hart • Multidirectional

 

Review from PopMatters (by Bill Milkowski):
Drummer Billy Hart just turned 85, and what a year for a master musician. His playing on Aaron Parks' By All Means was subtle and vital; his autobiography (as told to Ethan Iverson), Oceans of Time, was released; and his established quartet has released a new recording, Multidirectional. The new set catches the band live, playing the John Coltrane standard "Giant Steps" as well as originals from the leader, saxophonist Mark Turner, and pianist Iverson. Ben Street serves in the highly flexible rhythm team on acoustic bass. Billy Hart's "Song for Balkis" opens the album with mystery and daring: on a beautiful solo for Hart's toms that gives way to a ballad theme over a rubato time feeling. The title of Multidirectional comes from Hart's conversations with Coltrane late in his career, when Trane was working with drummer Rashid Ali. The idea is that jazz rhythms are contrapuntal and polyrhythmic, having simultaneous and shifting directions and crosscurrents. That word applies not just to Billy Hart's drumming but also to this quartet, which can organize its music variously, playing free and funky or both at once, unafraid to sound like it is reshuffling itself and its music over decades, a single album, or even a single track. Multidirectional is distinctive and exemplary modern jazz from a master bandleader who rarely makes a false move. This album is on the money.
https://www.popmatters.com/billy-hart-multidirectional

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Resena de PopMatters (por Bill Milkowski):
El baterista Billy Hart acaba de cumplir 85 anos, y que ano para un musico maestro. Su interpretacion en By All Means de Aaron Parks fue sutil y vital; su autobiografia (relatada a Ethan Iverson), Oceans of Time, fue publicada; y su cuarteto ya establecido lanza una nueva grabacion, Multidirectional. El nuevo disco captura a la banda en vivo, tocando el estandar de John Coltrane "Giant Steps" ademas de originales del lider, del saxofonista Mark Turner y del pianista Iverson. Ben Street actua en el equipo ritmico altamente flexible en contrabajo. "Song for Balkis" de Billy Hart abre el album con misterio y audacia: un hermoso solo de tom-toms que da paso a un tema de balada con una sensacion de tiempo rubato. El titulo de Multidirectional proviene de las conversaciones de Hart con Coltrane al final de su carrera, cuando Trane trabajaba con el baterista Rashid Ali. La idea es que los ritmos del jazz son contrapuntisticos y poliritmicos, con direcciones y contracorrientes simultaneas y cambiantes. Esa palabra se aplica no solo a la bateria de Billy Hart sino tambien a este cuarteto, que puede organizar su musica de diversas formas, tocando libre y funky o ambas a la vez, sin miedo a parecer que se esta reorganizando a si mismo y a su musica a lo largo de decadas, un album o incluso un solo tema. Multidirectional es jazz moderno distintivo y ejemplar de un maestro bandleader que rara vez da un paso en falso. Este album da en el blanco.
https://www.popmatters.com/billy-hart-multidirectional

Tracks:
1 - Song for Balkis
2 - Giant Steps
3 - Sonnet for Stevie
4 - Amethyst
5 - Showdown


Credits:
Personnel:
Billy Hart - Drums
Mark Turner - Tenor Saxophone
Ethan Iverson - Piano
Ben Street - Double Bass

Compositions:
Song for Balkis - Billy Hart
Giant Steps - John Coltrane
Sonnet for Stevie - Mark Turner
Amethyst - Ethan Iverson
Showdown - Billy Hart

Production:
Recorded Live December 7-10, 2023 at Smoke Jazz Club, New York City
NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart (2022)

Label: Smoke Sessions Records
Country: US
Released: November 21, 2025
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post-Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Duration: 52:30

Sources:
https://www.popmatters.com/billy-hart-multidirectional
https://billyhart.bandcamp.com/album/multidirectional
https://www.discogs.com/release/35694271-Billy-Hart-Multidirectional
https://www.allmusic.com/album/multidirectional-mw0004637557

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