It would be easy to listen to Andrew Hill's excellent album, Black Fire, and next put on Point of Departure, having been made curious by Hill's fascinating and idiosyncratic approach, also perhaps drawn to the promise of hearing performances by Eric Dolphy that might be new to you. Stopping there would be to lose out on a great opportunity to hear Hill, a truly unique artist, further reveal his great talent. It is absolutely worthwhile to keep listening through the Andrew Hill catalogue. One of the most profound releases of his came towards the end of his life, in 2005: Mosaic Select is an exquisite collection well worth tracking down.
What's the story behind this singular musician? There is a story-actually, by Hill's account, there are quite a few. Michael J. West does the patient work of carefully unraveling the mystique crafted by Andrew Hill. Part projection, part self-invention, part protection and decisive distancing, Hill didn't make it easy for the prospective biographer to piece together the facts of his life and work. I was thrilled at the opportunity to learn more about Andrew Hill: his playing drew me in immediately when, years ago, someone kindly turned me on to the Black Fire album. West mercifully allows jazz listeners an understanding of Andrew Hill, the man and the musician, without engaging in the thin-air intellectual altitudes where a lot of jazz literature so fiercely resides, often out of the reach of those who simply seek to know more. Time Lines is deeply researched and superbly written. The pages are dense with references and quotes, but never overwhelming. This is a great read about a tremendous artist.

Henry Rollins

Andrew Hill was simultaneously one of the kindest and most congenial people you could meet and also one of the all-time contrarians. This contrast is beautifully captured in Michael J. West's meticulously researched biography. West takes on the roles of historian, journalist, and fan. Andrew Hill could often exaggerate details of his life to build his mythology-some might call it fibbing-and some of the most entertaining parts of the book are when West gives Hill's side of the story then reins it in with what happened or might have happened.
It is fascinating to see the mind of Hill at work in this book. Though Hill was thoroughly immersed in the jazz culture of his time, his brain worked in a way that was unlike anyone else's, which rendered him his own planet-though still with the outlines of what people recognize as jazz. Andrew Hill is one of the definitive geniuses of jazz from the 1960s onward, and this book is the definitive guide to the beautiful creativity of his universe. No matter how Andrew Hill studies evolve in the future, I have the feeling that you will always have to come back to this book.

Matthew Shipp

The late, great NEA Jazz Master pianist and composer Andrew Hill was by all accounts a man who rode his own tide. And until his biographer Mike West so successfully broadened our sense of Andrew Hill with Time Lines, the distinctive pianist was a bit of a kind-hearted mystery man-a sensibility he apparently embraced throughout his arc, from fudging his actual birthdate to being a bit of a lifelong trickster (including with his very distinctive musical forms and practices). West beautifully clarifies some of that often-humorous tricksterism and further illuminates Andrew Hill's distinctive contributions to the jazz lexicon. This is a warm, deeply researched, and informative account of a musical life brilliantly lived.

Willard Jenkins, Artistic Director, DC Jazz Festival

In his manner and his music, Andrew Hill was a pure enigma-enthralling, elusive, ungoverned by any code outside his own. This remarkable biography draws a vivid context around his genius. Michael J. West, deploying the tenacity of a bloodhound, has given us a sensitive character study, a clear chronology, and a perceptive listening guide.

Nate Chinen, author, Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century

Michael West has accomplished the extraordinary feat of reconciling Hill's colorful self-mythology with both the factual record and his overall character as an artist. West gifts us the musician's full life and work, including his complexities-which is to say, his humanity.

Michelle Mercer, author of Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter and Will You Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell's Blue Period

In a time where truth feels optional, and cultural erasure is increasingly permissible, historical integrity and fact-driven journalism are essential. Through this deeply researched, carefully approached, and insightful work, Michael J. West has painted a holistic, vivid, and palpably rich portrait of one of jazz music's most intriguing figures. With gratitude, West honors a fascinating human and brilliant artist in Andrew Hill, whose somewhat unsung and underexplored status will now be lifted from the mystery that sometimes shrouds the legacy of our jazz legends-especially the most original of them, who are deserving of this level of deeper discovery.

Angélika Beener, writer, DJ, and jazz broadcaster