I've heard many good things from many people about how great Andrew Hill is and how if I like Thelonious Monk, which he's one of my jazz heroes, I would like Hill's music, I'm afraid the only comparison between Monk and Hill is they play kind of "outside," but with Monk he makes it swing and it just works for him. With Hill, he makes music just sound experimental and out there on left field somewhere. There's not really anything to hold on to. It's all sort just "up in the air" and you don't know when, where, why, or how it's going land. Hill is in fact a great pianist. I have heard him in several more conventional settings and he's fully capable of making things swing, but for his own music, he chose a different route, which I'm not particularly crazy about. To make matters worse, the horn lineup of Henderson, Dolphy, and Dorham just complicates the already over-complicated music. Hill's music just doesn't do anything for me. I will be selling all of the albums I own. I've had several of his albums for years now and all they do is gather dust.

I would normally give this classic 5 stars because of its compositions and the excellent players but the poor remastering by Van Gelder knocks it down one star. The reputation of this recording prompted the late Hill to name one of his later groups the "new Point of Departure" group!! But the playing on this recording is superb particularly from Eric Dolphy, one month after his own classic "Out to Lunch" album and of course we get the legendary Henderson/Dorham duo, a month before Joe's own classic "In'n'Out" session. These players are all complemented by Hill's piano, Chicago buddy Richard Davis on bass & the dynamic drummer, Tony Williams. The recording zaps his dynamic sound and also that of bassist Davis--if you have a chance then get the original issue CD or even the LP (they sound much better than this RVG version).

Absolutely a must have. I enjoyed this album even more than "Dancing with Death" and I thought that was his best album.

As soon as I saw Eric Dolphy's name on the front cover, I started shaking. While Dolphy's Out to Lunch is considered a huge classic of jazz, I found its lack of cohesion irritating and the "beat-you-over-the-head-with-dissonance" downright tiring. I don't see what everyone was all excited about. But I digress. Point of Departure, for the most part, is okay. Sometimes I hear too much dissonance a la Dolphy, but other times, it settles down and becomes interesting enough to be somehow satisfying. Overall, the good outweighs the bad. Sometimes Hill's piano is so laid back and unobtrusive, you aren't even really sure if he's playing or not. I like the fact that when I listen close, I hear some clever, "progressive" chords that sort of "push up" on the other group members' playing, and I found that very interesting. Also, Hill doesn't really amaze with any Peterson or Tatum like licks, so it is a style of playing that is approachable for a jazz beginner like me. Also, I've found this to be easy to listen to over and over, even in succession, and it gets deeper each time I listen. This is good enough that I may even try to listen to Doplhy some more to see if I'm coming around to this style of jazz. Overall, a pretty good album, and definitely worthy of consideration for addition to any jazz fan's collection.

I bought this recording the first week it was released in 1964. I found it fascinating, mysterious and compelling the first time I heard it. My appreciation over the years of its deep, complex beauty has only grown.
This music is timeless and a supreme example of how structure and freedom
can be blended to perfection. The players are all Olympian and, appropriately, play like gods. This is perhaps my favorite Dolphy on record - and that's saying a lot. A word about Kenny Dorham: he's the perfect trumpet player for this music. I wish he would have played more in
this avant garde approach. I find him so much more satisfying with his tart tone and mysterious melancholy then if it had been Freddy Hubbard on the date. He improvises deep and from the soul and you can hear him searching. I find Hubbard's outside playing to sound at times like he's playing exercises from The Arban's book. Kenny and Joe were dynamite together, and when combined with Dolphy one has an unbeatable, complementary and contrasting front line. All three are tremendous individuals on their instruments. The compositions are rooted in jazz history but totally original and forward looking, like Hill himself. With
Tony Williams and Richard Davis dancing and floating in a constant crosscurrent of rhythmn, you have a magic chemistry... music for the ages.