Hill Collective - Fire In Orbit - (Batov Records)

FFO: Ancient Infinity Orchestra, Ebi Soda, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Charles Mingus, Ill Considered, The Sorcerers.

Hill Collective strike out with Fire In Orbit, their first release for Batov Records and the Brighton ensemble’s most focused and expansive studio statement to date. Rooted in spiritual jazz but unafraid of the natural looseness, humour and raw edges that arise when imaginative musicians collaborate, Fire In Orbit captures a band working collectively, instinctively and with space to breathe.

Over the past three years, Hill Collective have become a central presence within Brighton’s small but fertile jazz-adjacent scene. They have appeared at Love Supreme Festival and The Great Escape, supported Etuk Ubong, and built a reputation for live performances that balance structure with volatility. Their 2024 studio album Tonal Prophecy, released via Germany’s Fin Du Monde, introduced them to the wider jazz press, earning praise as “a soulful, avant-garde addition to the bustling UK jazz landscape” (UK Vibe), while Jazz Journal noted that “the spirit of Ra is close” and All About Jazz heard “resonances of Charles Mingus, Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman”. If that record marked their arrival, Fire In Orbit feels like consolidation rather than expansion, leaner in sound, clearer in intent and more assured in delivery.

Led by alto saxophonist and composer Pete Piskov, Hill Collective emerged after his previous trio dissolved, featuring founding members of the Ancient Infinity Orchestra, moved to Leeds. Drawing on Brighton’s close-knit network, the group expanded into a flexible, often double-digit ensemble, at times doubling up on instrumentation, its spiritually inclined ethos linking the South Coast to a broader UK conversation.

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