''Hints on Light and Shadow'' is an album by trombonist

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Biog ...

and saxophonist Sam Rivers. It was recorded on November 14 and 15, 1996, and was released in 1997 by

Postcards Records Postcards Records was an American jazz record company and label founded in 1993 by Ralph Simon and Sybil Golden. Through 1997 its catalogue included music by Paul Bley, Bill Frisell, Julian Priester, Gary Peacock, Sam Rivers, and Reggie Workman ...

, now part of the

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label. On the album, Priester and Rivers are joined by electronic musician

Tucker Martine Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade. Early life Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...

Reception

In a review for ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'', Glenn Astarita stated that the album is "modern, at times free-flowing yet conveys a sense of buoyancy and clear-sightedness which for the most part may seem transparent to the listener."

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

of ''

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'' commented: "If the abstraction of these pieces makes them a bit challenging to enter, the obvious intelligence, high standards and restless curiosity of Rivers' playing makes it well worth the effort... Priester... is an able foil for Rivers... Martine stays in the background and allows Priester's smears and smudges of sound to provide a stimulating counterpoint to Rivers's darting, jagged lines."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Steve Loewy wrote: "While the idea of bringing these two very accomplished players together must have appeared to be a no-miss effort, in reality they each seem to be improvising around, rather than with, each other." Writing for ''

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'', Michael Ullman stated that Priester and Rivers "seem to belong together" on the album, and remarked: "Suggestive, challenging, informal and occasional irritating, ''Hints'' is not, as Dexter Gordon liked to say about music he liked, your average B flat." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' called the album "a disappointing set," noting that "Martine's electronic backgrounds sometimes add an attractive dimension but often disguise an emptiness as the centre."

Track listing

# "Heads of the People" (Tucker Martine) – 6:51 # "Desire" (Sam Rivers) – 5:55 # "Zone" (Sam Rivers) – 3:41 # "The New System" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 5:14 # "Mister Mayor and Mister Miser" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 7:11 # "Autumnal Influences: The Book of Beauty" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 5:54 # "Public Servant" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 4:16 # "The Circumlocution Office" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 4:15 # "Chiaroscuro" (Julian Priester, Sam Rivers) – 5:07

Personnel

– trombone * Sam Rivers – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, piano *

– electronics

References

{{authority control 1997 collaborative albums Julian Priester albums Sam Rivers (jazz musician) albums Free jazz albums