by Editor
Composition for saxophone sextet (two soprano, alto, two tenor, and baritone). It was written for the dance performance “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land” and later recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet. It was published in the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet Collection by Subito Music.
Found on: Fat Man and the Hard Blues, The Hard Blues: Live in Lisbon.
by Editor
Billy Strayhorn composition, arranged by Hemphill for saxophone quartet (two alto, tenor, and baritone). It was recorded by the World Saxophone Quartet on the album Plays Duke Ellington (1986). Hemphill also arranged this piece for saxophone sextet and included it in the dance performance “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” The archive includes a holograph score and professionally copied parts in manuscript.
Found on: Plays Duke Ellington.
From Marty Ehrlich: Hemphill’s 44-measure arrangement is in AABBAA form.
by Editor
This composition exists in several forms in the Julius Hemphill Papers, with various scores and parts. Its earliest appearance on a recording is on the unreleased “Janus Sessions” from 1977. The only commercially released recording is for saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone) on the World Saxophone Quartet album Dances and Ballads (1987).
An early version for trumpet, alto saxophone, bass, and drums, which appears in Music Manuscript Notebook 3 (MMN3), was apparently the basis for the saxophone quartet arrangement. “Sweet D” was also arranged for saxophone sextet and was included in the performance “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” It was published in the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet Collection by Subito Music.
Found on: Dances and Ballads.
From Marty Ehrlich: “Sweet D” shares the same instrumentation as “Sanctified Dreams,” which is the adjacent score in the compositional notebook. There are professionally copied parts for alto saxophone and trumpet, by the same copyist who did parts for Hemphill in the early 70s, which may help date this work.
The archive includes a recording of this piece performed at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in 1987. In one of the rare examples in which Hemphill introduces his compositions from the stage in a live performance, he tells the audience: “A colleague and friend of mine is quite popular and deservedly so. Initially upon his coming to New York, him being a young fellow and all that, he acquired the nickname, briefly, of ‘Sweet D.’ This piece is dedicated to David Murray.”
by Editor
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.
by Editor
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.
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.