Julius Hemphill : Composer

Bill T. Jones

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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Opening (Hymn)

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Composition for saxophone sextet (two soprano, alto, two tenor, and baritone). It was originally used in the dance performance “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land,” and later recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on Fat Man and the Hard Blues (1991).

Found on: Fat Man and the Hard Blues, The Hard Blues: Live in Lisbon.

From Marty Ehrlich: This is one of the most extensive pieces in Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land. It was played at a very slow tempo (quarter note = 40), and it underscored a long dance sequence. It became a staple of the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet repertoire.

The harmonies sound like no one else but Julius Hemphill, light and dark and mysterious. He spoke to this work in an interview in BOMB Magazine published in 1994: “Opening is supposed to be church bells, the sound of a lot of bells going off….I was striving for a certain majesty. A ringing bell creates a series of overtones that exist within it. So I was trying to activate enough pitches in the saxophone to create that sound.” 

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Lenny

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Composition for saxophone sextet, originally part of the collaboration with Bill T. Jones, “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” It was later performed in concert as a free-standing piece and recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on the album Fat Man and the Hard Blues (1991).

Found on: Fat Man and the Hard Blues.

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Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land

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Hemphill composed the music for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performance “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land,” which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November, 1990. The music was performed by a saxophone sextet, and included several pre-existing compositions, as well as pieces that would go on to be performed individually in concert by the Julius Hemphill Sextet. The Julius Hemphill Papers has extensive and substantial material related to this performance, including scores in Hemphill’s hand from various stages in the compositional process, as well as individual musicians’ parts used in performance.

Performance Order

“Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land” was divided into four parts, with an intermission between the second and third. The individual musical movements within these parts, as assembled by Marty Ehrlich, are as follows:

Overture: Otis’ Groove.

Part One. The Cabin
Cabin Opener
Harry
Liza – Tearful Farewell
George
Slave Dance
Chloe
Tom
Men’s Chase / Haley’s Dance
Tom’s Goodbye
Boat Music
Slave’s Walk
Lucy
Slave’s Walk (reprise)
St. Clair Family
Eva and Tom
Dixie Dance
Death of Eva
Slave Walk (reprise)
Auction (ad lib.)
Tom’s Whipping
Ghosts (ad lib.)
Death of Eva (reprise)
Retrograde
Fanfare for Lincoln

Part Two. Eliza on the Ice
Knee Play
Eliza on the Ice
Ain’t I A Woman
Elevator Music
Betsy
Prayer Music
End of Betsy
Fanfare for Maya
End of Betsy (reprise)
Soft Shoe Improv
Betsy (reprise)
Men’s Chase Music (reprise)
Elevator Music
Betsy: Eliza on Ice
A-Maya
Prayer Music

Part Three. The Promised Land
At Dr. King’s Table
Step Dance
Dixie Dance
Football
Ascension
Crossformation
Opening (Hymn)
Three Step

Part Four. The Last Supper
Overture: The Hard Blues
Arthur
Trans
Men’s Trio
Ringmere
Ringmere Canon
Four Saints
Spiritual Chairs
Lenny
The Children’s Song

According to Marty Ehrlich, “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Sweet D,” and “Revue” were also performed as overtures to different parts of the performance.

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