Listening anew to Andrew Hill’s sound

Pianist-composer Andrew Hill’s music was one of the bright stars in the extraordinary constellation of new, inventive jazz that arrived in the ‘60s and early ‘70s. Playing and writing with a kick-out-the-jams adventurousness, fully willing to stretch, even break, the envelope of tradition, he was also capable of producing melodically appealing, hip-shaking groove tunes.

Despite collaborations with the likes of Kenny Dorham, Eric Dolphy, Elvin Jones and numerous other major artists, however, Hill’s career never quite shone with the intensity it merited, and he spent a good part of the ‘70s and ‘80s teaching at institutions such as Wesleyan University and Portland State. Fortunately, his star has been returning to ascendancy in the last few years via striking new albums and enhanced visibility.

Thursday night’s performance by guitarist Nels Cline and friends at Club Tropical in Culver City was a significant effort to reintroduce Hill’s music to listeners who are just beginning to rediscover the work of this seminal jazz artist.

The program included some of Hill’s intriguing works from the ‘60s -- “Compulsion,” “Dance With Death” and “Yokada Yokada” among them -- performed by Cline’s unusually instrumented ensemble (cornetist Bobby Bradford, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, accordionist Andrea Parkins, bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola).

Finding the right approach to Hill’s music can be a thorny task. Not fully immersed in the no-holds-barred, free-jazz style, often tinged with catchy melodies and witty asides (his “Rump Roller,” for example), the works make an unusually wide range of improvisational demands.

Cline, also a member of the rock band Wilco, and his players elected to emphasize a free jazz approach, enhancing widely roaming solos with astringent electronic sounds from Cline’s guitar and turbulent roars from Parkins’ amplified accordion. Bradford (once a sideman with Ornette Coleman) and Goldberg (who plays with Tin Hat) were the most successful at finding improvisational connections with Hill’s pieces. More often, the linkages were blurred by awkward ensemble passages, and solos foundered in the open stretches of free jazz space. But give the Cline ensemble credit for bringing attention to fascinating music and for helping to remind the contemporary jazz audience of Hill’s importance.