Andrew Hill was born June 30, 1931 in Chicago and started playing jazz at age 13, copying the playing of Bud Powell, Thelonius Monk and Art Tatum. His early gigs were with Von Freeman, Wilbur Ware, Johnny Griffin and later with Miles Davis. After a period of woodshedding he formed a trio which backed vocalist Dinah Washington, taking him to New York. From there he worked with the Johnny Griffin-Lockjaw Davis Quintet, Al Hibbler, fellow Chicagoan Clifford Jordan, Roland Kirk at The Five Spot, Jackie McLean and Kenny Dorham, before signing an exclusive contract with Blue Note. Andrew appeared on two Blue Note sessions, first with Joe Henderson, then Hank Mobley. Andrew then lead his own date, featuring Henderson on tenor, released as the album Black Fire. A succession of dates as a leader for Blue Note followed until 1971. He then concentrated on composing and gave concert tours throughout the USA under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute. In 1974, he recorded again on Steeplechase and through his work with Michael Cuscuna, Andrew did a pair of recordings for the Freedom label. He also recorded three albums for East Wind. In 1978, Andrew recorded an album for the Artists House label. Andrew recorded two more albums in 1980 and two in 1986 for Italy's Soul Note label before he returned to Blue Note for an album in 1989. It was late in that year that his wife died from cancer. Another Blue Note session followed in 1990. Since then Andrew has recorded some sideman dates including a session for Reggie Workman that saw him working with former Blue Note labelmate Sam Rivers. 1995 saw the release of a box set of Andrew's Blue Note albums which has re-vitalized interest in his recordings. Andrew was widely considered a most important jazz pianist and composer.