Tony Hill
Playing For Time

A few months ago, I went for a stroll at the Navigli fair just to look around and perhaps find something original. The fair is vast and filled with all sorts of items, including antiques and knick-knacks. You can find a bit of everything. Paintings with miniature sections of houses complete with balconies, windows, streets, and cars (undoubtedly small masterpieces). Telescopes, sextants, musical instruments, porcelain dolls that seem straight out of some horror movie, and even minerals, an old passion of mine that has never faded over time...

When the hopes of finding something interesting had almost completely faded, I spotted some stalls selling used CDs for a few Euros. Amidst dozens of titles from known and unknown artists, I found this album by T Hill. But wasn't he the guitarist from .... ....? This album was released in 1990 (World Wide Records) but curiously contains fourteen tracks (about 57 min.) all composed by Hill, recorded in 1975, except for "Synchrosonic" from 1989. All tracks are sung except for the delicate and moving "Dream Beam" and the powerful "Synchrosonic." In some tracks, Tony is accompanied by Graham Finch (backing vocals, alto sax), Drachen Theaker (drums), Android Funnel (bass) in the instrumental "Synchrosonic" and Pete Pavli (cello) in "Dandilly Maigret."

The album is sonically comparable to many works from the '70s. The first listen wasn't exactly thrilling, maybe because I was expecting a technical realization in line with the times. In reality, after a more attentive and repeated listen, the work turned out to be pleasant and interesting. The modest cover depicts the mirrored but incomplete image of the guitarist. Probably the meaning of this image is linked to the dual aspect of the artist's musical personality. Indeed, the album presents a more electric and charged sound in the first five tracks, while the subsequent ones are moving acoustic ballads. Among all the tracks, I would like to highlight at least "Turkey Trails" an excellent Hard Rock piece very catchy, "Crying Wolf Again" a wonderful electric ballad and "Synchrosonic." The latter is a rather long instrumental piece with Hill's guitar highlighted in a long "acid" solo and a nimble and decisive drumming. Tony proves to be a valuable guitarist, and it seems to me that he hasn't yet reached his full musical expressive potential. Touching and delicate are the acoustic ballads like the title track "Playing For Time,” “Jacqueline" and "Girl In The Doorway." The booklet is sparse and contains a brief biographical note of the guitarist.

Overall, a pleasant album that manages to move the listener and transport them to distant and mysterious places. After all, I can't complain, I only spent three Euros. Album rating 3.5 out of 5.