by Editor
Composition for saxophone quartet (two alto, tenor, and baritone), found in Music Manuscript Notebook 1 (MMN1). The archive also includes parts in holograph. It was recorded by the World Saxophone Quartet on the album Steppin’ (1979).
Found on: Steppin’ with the World Saxophone Quartet.
by Editor
“Heart” is the title of the fourth track on the album Flat-Out Jump Suite (1980).
From Marty Ehrlich: Although Hemphill was a prodigious composer of notated music, he chose at times to do an open improvisation with his colleagues on a given recording. In this case, Hemphill added titles to the improvised pieces: “Ear,” “Mind (1st part),” “Mind (2nd part)” and “Heart.” The piece Hemphill titled “Body” on this recording was a notated composition originally titled “Flat-Out Jump Suite.”
Found on: Flat-Out Jump Suite.
by Editor
Composition for saxophone sextet (soprano, two alto, two tenor, and baritone). The archive includes a score in holograph. The piece is included in the Julius Hemphill Sextet Collection, published by Subito Music.
Found on: Fat Man and the Hard Blues.
by Editor
Composition for flute, flugelhorn, marimba, and cello, with indications in the score for percussion (“Gong-Cymbal solo”). A section is also indicated for a group improvisation. The score has no tempo marking but includes notations for articulation and dynamics. The archive also includes professionally copied parts.
From Marty Ehrlich: On the marimba part, Hemphill has written “with Joanne” in red ink. Dancer JoAnne Robinson-Hill (then JoAnne Robinson) performed with the Black Artist’s Group in St. Louis and worked with Hemphill later in New York City. The archive includes video footage of this piece in Ralph Ellison’s Long Tongue, presented at the Kitchen in 1981 in New York City, a production on which Robinson was a collaborator.
by Editor
Twelve-measure composition for solo cello. The Julius Hemphill Papers includes a photocopy of a part in the composer’s hand, with further annotations. No known recording.
From Marty Ehrlich: The cello part is written on the same page as the piece Savannah Suite, which is scored for flute, cello, and percussion. I will conjecture that Hemphill composed both after meeting cellist Abdul Wadud in the late 1960s, when painter Oliver Jackson brought Hemphill to Oberlin College. These may have been among his first works for cello.
The Julius Hemphill Papers is an archival collection at New York University. The collection contains scores, audiovisual documentation, and other material related to the life and career of composer and saxophonist Julius Hemphill. Materials are accessible by appointment. Click here to learn more.