Hill Collective :: Fire In Orbit
Based in Brighton, UK, and led by alto saxophonist, flutist and composer Pete Piskov, Hill Collective’s radical roots first began in the sonic soil of a previously dissolved trio featuring members of the Ancient Infinity Orchestra, a 16-member jazz ensemble led by double-bassist and composer Ozzy Moysey, before relocating to the east of England in Leeds. While carefully conjuring the abstract atmosphere from the revolutionary residue left over from a Cecil Taylor fever dream, the enigmatic ensemble, often reaching double digits in participation, effortlessly explores the electrifying ecosystem of the past and present moments of the avant-garde alchemy by layering an already liberating landscape of poetic presence with their transcendental touch and intimate identity. Since 2021, the group has released a splendid body of work that features titles such as 2021’s “Metaflections,” ”Where It Was There It Is,” the group’s debut LP “Tonal Prophecy,” which introduced the group to a wider world of academic acclaim, and praise, and perhaps their most spiritually sprawling collection of songs to date, “Fire In Orbit" that was released back in July on the British-based label Batov Records. The chances of you reading this because you’ve never heard of Hill Collective are extremely likely, so where did they come from, and where are they going? For the past few years, the group has been focusing their esoteric energy on a melodic meditation that requires prolific patience and a great deal of cosmic communication. Within their creative community, a small yet productive intensity percolates throughout Brighton’s jazz-influenced scene, and Hill Collective has quickly set up camp to ensure the sights and sounds produced from the spiritual source are well cared for as the community’s core continues to explore its poetic potential.
Having appeared at the highly acclaimed Love Supreme Festival and The Great Escape, where they supported Nigerian trumpeter, composer and bandleader Etuk Ubong, it couldn’t be any more obvious as to how far their reach has stretched across the radical reality of modern jazz, and “Fire In Orbit,” while the group’s most elemental effort yet, is only just the beginning as the EP reminds us just how holy, and organic music can be. Featuring members and collaborators Joe Edwards, Joe Snelling, Luke Congdon, Chris Luu, Vincent Malloch, Will Roberts, Ivy Loska, Jay Orpana, Max Generowicz, Sudhi S Pooniyil, and leader Pete Piskov, the EP transcends those sometimes typical temptations to perfect the sequences and tonal timings by eagerly embracing the natural nature of improv. Where the sky meets the ground is a flammable fable of love and death; Hill Collective rise to the occasion, reaching for their sonic swords and entering the dystopian doors of battle with their bold brand of orchestral jazz and Dadaesque dynamics. Recorded by Joe Edwards and Will Roberts, who also mastered the album, and mixed by Pete Piskov, the EP features 4 numbers, most notably “A House Is A Home Like Honey” and the title track, but there’s a sonic story being told within the gravitational grooves of the music to an audience whose ears are wide open, and eyes closed from the spiritual storms that have cast the listener’s souls into a fight, or flight response that can only be curved by the timeless tones, and bumpy backroads of the minds consciousness clarity.
