like nobody else
World Saxophone Quartet (Julius Hemphill [1938-1995], alto and soprano saxophones; Oliver Lake [1942-]. alto and soprano saxophones; David Murray [1955-], tenor saxophone; Hamiet Bluiett [1940-2018], baritone saxophone), live, Berlin, 1987
**********
lagniappe
reading table
For today’s tourist, orientation is impossible.
—Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), from “Cities (I)” (translated from the French by John Ashbery)
voices I miss
Julius Hemphill (alto saxophone, 1938-1995) with Baikida E.J. Carroll (1947-, trumpet), Abdul Wadid (1947-, cello), Philip Wilson (1941-1992, drums), “Dogon A.D.” (J. Hemphill), 1972
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
three takes
This guy, like Monk, could take a familiar form, open it up, and create something both old and new.
Julius Hemphill (1938-1995), “The Hard Blues”
Live (with members of the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra and the Either/Orchestra), Boston, 1989
***
Recording (JH, alto saxophone, flute; Baikida E.J. Carroll, trumpet; Hamiet Bluiett, baritone saxophone; Abdul Wadud, cello; Philip Wilson, drums), recorded 1972 (first released on Coon Bid’ness, 1975)
***
Recording (Julius Hemphill, alto saxophone; Marty Ehrlich, soprano and alto saxophone, flute; Carl Grubbs, soprano and alto saxophone; James Carter, tenor saxophone; Andrew White. tenor saxophone; Sam Furnace, baritone saxophone, flute), 1991
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, c. 1940
Julius Hemphill (alto saxophone), with Abdul Wadud (cello), Baikida E.J. Carroll (trumpet), Phillip Wilson (drums), “Dogon A.D.” (Dogon A.D.), 1972
The drumming is genius—he’s like the Zigaboo Modeliste of free-jazz. . . . Any musician who doesn’t like this should just stop—this is what it’s all about. It’s such a raw sound, right up in your face. This is the perfect introduction to someone who’s never heard free-jazz before. I wouldn’t mind if this piece went on for a couple hours.
getting older
“Where did everybody go?” you wonder.
With each passing year, more of the musicians who’ve shaped your world—who’ve made life sing—are gone.
Ed Blackwell, Lester Bowie, Betty Carter, Malachi Favors, Steve Lacy, Kate McGarrigle, Art Pepper, Professor Longhair, Sun Ra, Junior Wells, Julius Hemphill (below): the list goes on, and on, and on.
World Saxophone Quartet (Julius Hemphill, alto saxophone; Oliver Lake, soprano and alto saxophones; David Murray, tenor saxophone; Hamiet Bluiett, baritone saxophone)
Medley: “West African Snap,” “I Heard That,” “Fast Life,” “Hattie Wall,” live (TV Broadcast [Night Music]), 1990 (music starts at 2:20)
Listening to Julius Hemphill (far left), a phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech comes to mind: “the fierce urgency of now.” Hemphill has, it seems, so much to say—right now. Listen, for instance, to 4:30-6:35.
*****
Live, with M’Boom (Max Roach’s 9-piece percussion ensemble), New York (The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine), 1981 (music starts at 1:55)
Want more? Here.
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Without music, life would be an error.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
music clip of the day 