This album has been ripped from a pristine vinyl copy at 320kbps, and donated to this blog by Burning Blue Soul from the fine El Reza blog, so please give BBS a big thanks in the comments!
Dutch pianist Jack Van Poll got his start in the 1950s by backing visiting jazz artists in Holland and Belgium - people such as Don Byas, Ben Webster, Johnny Griffin, Clark Terry, Tony Scott, Ted Curson, and Buddy DeFranco.
Since the late 1960s, he has released a number of piano trio albums , as well as collaborations with a number of singers, including the album "Another Vision" with Mark Murphy in 1992.
In 1984 he founded the "September Jazz Records" label. He joined the Lionel Hampton band on their East Coast Summer tour in 1985, and made his debut in Manhattan with Dee Dee Bridgewater that same year. It's not clear exactly when Van Poll discovered the use of puns in band and album titles, but it seems well imbued by 1972.
"Hi-Jackin", recorded in 1972, appears to be his only album using the fender rhodes. He's joined by Mary Heuat on electric bass and Ruud Pronk on drums. It's a cool, sparse session of rhodes blues comprised of some original tracks and a few standards. Drummer Pronk has a light touch and often goes to brushes in order to give the keyboards some space. Heuat's playing with a pick, so her bass often carries percussive duties as well. Van Poll's working simply with the rhodes dynamics, not digging into the inbuilt FX - his playing style reminds me a little of Clare Fischer's.
A laidback bluesy version of Bill Withers' "Aint No Sunshine" opens the album. Van Poll's original tracks are the best here, as he seems to have written them around the dynamics of the rhodes - "Objizdka" is built around a rolling bassline by Heuat, with all three musicians soloing at different times. "Passage To Prerov", which has appeared on some comps, alternates between Van Poll and Heuat taking leads.
The only odd track out is Heuat's composition "Married Yet", for two acoustic guitars. It sounds a little like Jack agreed to throw in in as a favour ...
"A Box for Leslie" is a blues-based track written by saxophonist Tony Vos, who played with Van Poll on his first album and also produced this one.
Anyway, chill out with this album and enjoy!
TRACKLIST
01. "Ain't No Sunshine" (B. Withers)
02. "Objizdka" (J. Van Poll)
03. "Married Yet" (M. Heuat)
04. "Oh Happy Day" (E. Hawkins)
05. "Passage To Prerov" (J. Van Poll)
06. "A Box For Leslie" (T. Vos)
07. "Blue Tait" (J. Van Poll)
08. "Sweet Georgie Fame" (B. Dearie - S. Harris)
MUSICIANS
Jack Van Poll - Fender Rhodes Piano
Mary Hehuat - Fender Bass (acoustic guitar on #3)
Ruud Pronk - Drums
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Producer - Tony Vos
" Hi-Jackin' "
Jack Van Poll Tree-Oh
Decca 6407 501
Recorded Oct 9-10, 1972
Released 1972
