"Les Noirs Marchant"

"Les Noirs Marchant" was composed by Andrew Hill, played by Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Sam Rivers (tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet and flute) Andrew Hill (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums), was recorded on April 3 1965 and released on Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue for Blue Note. I'm listening to the 2002 RVG Edition.

"Dialogue" as a whole highlights the advantages of the 40-minute time limit imposed by LPs: there is absolutely no pressure to add filler, so the original 5 performances are of a high caliber and, just as importantly, of a piece. The bonus track tacked on to the RVG Edition, a swinging blues called "Jasper," puts the unity of the original album in bold relief: "Jasper" may serve as a release for the tension accumulated over the course of the previous 5 ambiguous and unsettled tracks, but that is perhaps a disservice, allowing the listener to take a comfortable leave from an album that should be prickly.

"Les Noirs Marchant" struck me for two reasons: its title and what I see as its political subtext. The title, first, sounds like the title of a painting. Literally, it means "The Blacks Marching," but A.B. Spellman, in the original liner notes, translates it as "The Blacks' March" and misspells it as "Les Noirs Marchent," which means "The Blacks Are Marching." I'm not sure which meaning was intended by Hill, but the nuances are subtle enough for this not to be a big issue.

Second, this composition seems to me heavily politicised, so much so that I am surprised neither the original nor the re-issue liner notes mention this aspect. At most, Spellman points out that the piece is "played in march time" and that the group follows "a given path which opens up into something very much like freedom." Perhaps he had caught its political tenor, but felt it too dangerous to mention in liner notes, in 1965. In 2001, Bob Blumenthal notes only that it "provides an example of collective improvisation made coherent by its focus on rhythmic variation."

The political elements come from several musical sources, which are bleak in their outlook, aggressive and even war-like. The first is, most obviously, Chambers's martial snare pattern, which opens the piece and recurs at strategic points throughout. A few minutes in, this snare pattern re-surfaces, threatening to explode, but fades away, heightening tension. Just after the five minute mark, the charge hinted at earlier finally occurs in a quick group outburst, which leads to a recap of the theme, but with a new triumphant swagger: a jubilant return from the battlefield. Second, there are Hubbard's opening phrases in the improvised section, which sound like a bugle's call-to-arms. Third, at various times Carter and/or Hill play regular two-note patterns (overall, the performance seems to hover between 2, 3 and unmetered rhythm) that could be evocations of war drums or the steady thud-thud of the two timpani-like drums played on boats long ago to synchronise the movements of the rowers. Fourth, and more generally, the collective improvisation sketches a barren, craggy wasteland and a fierce mood, as in Hill's low register rumblings at its beginning or Rivers's acidic flute interjections.

Add to these elements the title itself. In 1965, the image of Blacks marching could evoke either slaves, heads bowed and feet chained, Civil Rights protestors or the armies of newly independent African countries, marching for the first time under their own flags. "Les Noirs Marchant" ends inconclusively, leaving a huge question mark hanging above us. Is Hill questioning the validity of war path chosen in this song, or is he asking "after triumph (as expressed in the out-head), what now?"

While neither a rousing popular anthem nor a full-on sonic assault on society's injustices, "Les Noirs Marchant" does make a strong statement on freedom, the means through which it is to be acquired and the new questions it raises, once obtained.