Dialogue (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition Remastered)

1965's Dialogue was the first album Bobby Hutcherson released as a bandleader (though not the first he recorded). The vibraphone virtuoso had recently recorded with New Thing trailblazers like Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, and Jackie McLean, and their avant-garde leanings undoubtedly influenced Dialogue. Hill's also the pianist and main writer here (Hutcherson hadn't yet really leapt into composition). But while tunes like "Les Noirs Merchant" and the title track (penned by drummer Joe Chambers) feature their fair share of free sections full of openminded explorations, Dialogue is as much a post-bop outing as anything; "Catta" finds Hutcherson, sax man Sam Rivers, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard blowing atop a Latinate montuno, while the slow, slinky "Ghetto Lights" features plenty of bluesy licks backed by a sultry swinging feel. The ease with which Hutcherson's vibes and marimba could shift from crystalline melodic phrases to furious bursts of outward-bound energy foreshadowed the depth and breadth of the discography that was to come.