Julius Hemphill : Composer

At Dr. King's Table

What I Know Now

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This composition appears in several different forms in the Julius Hemphill Papers. A version for saxophone quartet (two alto, tenor, and baritone) was recorded on the posthumous album At Dr. King’s Table (1997). There is a score for big band (performed in 1980 at the Public Theatre), as well as a full set of parts in the Julius Hemphill Papers. There are also instrumental parts for oboe, clarinet, and strings, from an unknown performance context. “What I Know Now” was one of the pieces arranged for orchestra by Christopher Bankey as the suite “Plan B.” The piece also appears on archival recordings.

Found on: At Dr. King’s Table.

From Marty Ehrlich: The big band score bears the annotation, “For S*.” On the archival recording for the Public Theater performance from 1980, Julius announces the composition from the stage and says that it is for Stanlynn (Daugherty). 

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Void

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Composition for saxophone quartet (two alto, tenor, and baritone), found in Music Manuscript Notebook 6 (MMN6). It is untitled in the notebooks, but the professionally copied parts are titled “Void.” It was posthumously recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on At Dr. King’s Table (1997).

Found on: At Dr. King’s Table.

From Marty Ehrlich: On the envelope containing the parts for “Void” is a list of ten Hemphill compositions for saxophone quartet. Given the presence of the pieces “R&B” and “Steppin'” on this list, it would be dated no earlier than 1979. It is an insistent, if not obsessive, piece of music that takes one, well, into the Void.

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Spiritual Chairs

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Composition for saxophone sextet, originally written for the dance piece, “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” Some versions of the score in the Julius Hemphill Papers include a dedication to the choreographer Bill T. Jones. It was recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on the posthumous albums At Dr. King’s Table (1997) and The Hard Blues: Live in Lisbon (2004).

Found on: At Dr. King’s Table, The Hard Blues: Live in Lisbon.

From Marty Ehrlich: One of the most beautiful gospel pieces in Hemphill’s oeuvre. In the Last Supper performance, there was a row of chairs on stage on a diagonal, with different symbols representing world religions. The dancers would do short solos and then return to the chairs. Bill T. Jones would give an improvised sermon from the stage over the vamp at the end. The Sextet played this work at all our live performances, both with Julius and in the years after he passed. It was amazing to hear Julius solo on this piece night after night, and an honor to take on the solo in the Sextet later on, along with Andrew White.

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Sojourner’s Blues: “Ain’t I A Woman?”

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Composition for saxophone sextet, originally part of the dance piece “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” It introduced and accompanied the section Last Supper that drew on the abolitionist speech known as “Ain’t I A Woman,” delivered by Sojourner Truth in 1851. “Sojourner’s Blues” was recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on the posthumous album At Dr. King’s Table (1997).

Found on: At Dr. King’s Table.

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Ji-Ji Tune

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Composition for saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone). This piece was originally part of the suite “Wind/Rhythms,” composed for the World Saxophone Quartet’s collaboration with Max Roach & M’Boom, a concert at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on June 26, 1981. It was later recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on the posthumous album At Dr. King’s Table (1997), and was published in the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Quartet Collection by Subito Music.

Found on: At Dr. King’s Table. 

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