Source: KQED Arts, Bobby Hutcherson passed away at age 75 after a long battle with emphysema.
Introduced to the Blue Note fold by veteran alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, Hutcherson quickly joined a loose confederation of creatively ambitious New York musicians inspired by the rhythmic and harmonic innovations of free jazz patriarch Ornette Coleman but dedicated to experimenting with compositional form. With his thick, ringing four-mallet chords and exquisitely chiseled melodic lines, he played a defining role on several dozen era-defining albums, such as Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch, Lee Morgan’s The Procrastinator, McCoy Tyner’s Time For Tyner, Joe Henderson’s Mode For Joe, Tony Williams’ Life Time, Gracham Moncur III’s Evolution, and McLean’s One Step Beyond.
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