Julius Hemphill : Composer

Editor

C.M.E.

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Composition for flute, soprano, and alto saxophone, recorded by Hemphill through overdubbing on the album Blue Boyé (1977). The score appears in Music Manuscript Notebook 1 (MMN1), where it is titled “Roots.” 

Found on: Blue Boyé.

From Marty Ehrlich: The eight pieces that became Blue Boyé all appear in this notebook, though in a slightly different order than on the album.

“C.M.E.” stands for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Hemphill has a family lineage in this denomination. (See the Julius Hemphill interview conducted by Katea Stitt from the Smithsonian Oral History archive).

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Zuli

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Composition for trumpet, tenor saxophone, and cello, with drums likely added in performance. The archive includes parts in holograph as well as a photocopy of a score. No known recording.

From Marty Ehrlich: This 26-bar piece would have been performed by the Julius Hemphill Quartet during the period when he was playing tenor sax, in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

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Would Boogie

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Composition for trumpet, alto saxophone, guitar, bass, and drums, with parts in holograph. 

From Marty Ehrlich: This is an extensive piece in four sections, written in 5/2, 7/2, and 4/2. (Hemphill began to write a new section with some chord symbols but did not get past a few measures.) Trumpeter Baikida Carroll told me recently that he remembers performing this work on tours and gigs with Hemphill in the late 70’s. There is one recording of this work in the archive, with Hemphill, Carroll, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland, at the Joyous Lake club in Woodstock, NY. You hear on the tape that Hemphill comes up with the idea to do the piece against a straight backbeat. He and Carroll then place all these odd-note groupings and meter changes against it. It is an amazing piece of music. 

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Wind/Rhythms

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Multi-movement work for saxophone quartet with percussion. This suite was written for a concert featuring the World Saxophone Quartet and Max Roach & M’Boom, called “The Grand Collaboration,” at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, on June 26, 1981, although it was evidently not performed at that concert. The individual movements of “Wind/Rhythms” are “Fixation“; “Flair“; “Ji-Ji Tune“; “Another Feeling“; and “Stick.” Several of these movements were later performed or recorded as separate pieces.

From Marty Ehrlich: In addition to the full score in Hemphill’s hand, there are two pages on which Hemphill outlines an intricate structure for performing these works with percussion ensemble.