Julius Hemphill : Composer

Live at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Open Air (For Tommy)

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There are scores for multiple versions of this composition in the Julius Hemphill Papers. The earliest may be represented by parts for alto saxophone, trumpet, and guitar. Hemphill arranged this piece for a 12-piece big band for a concert at the Public Theatre in 1980, and recorded it with the World Saxophone Quartet on Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1987). The four parts in the saxophone quartet arrangement are: two alto saxophones switching to soprano saxophone, bass clarinet switching to tenor saxophone, and alto clarinet switching to baritone saxophone. The archive includes multiple parts as well as a score in holograph, with detailed instructions for the copyist.

Found on: Live at Brooklyn Academy of Music.

From Marty Ehrlich: Painter Oliver Jackson has told me that Tommy Richards was a friend of Hemphill’s from his high school days in St. Louis. Richards died after struggling with an illness in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Because the date of composition is not known, I think of this work as a musical portrait, a tribute, and an elegy. It includes a slow melody with each note harmonized with open-fourth stacked chords, voiced in a way that gives the feeling of “open air.” “Open Air (For Tommy)” is one of Hemphill’s most striking  works, equally sad and hopeful.

In a conversation in 2018, Baikida Carroll confirmed that he did a tour with Hemphill around 1978 in a quartet with guitar and drums, in which they performed this piece. the archival audio collection also includes a performance of this piece from 1980 by Hemphill’s 12-piece ensemble.

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One/Waltz/Time

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There are scores for this composition in two forms in the archive. One version for saxophone quartet (two alto, tenor, and baritone) was recorded by the World Saxophone Quartet on the album Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1987) and published in the Julius Hemphill Quartet Collection by Subito Music. The archive includes parts in holograph for tenor and baritone saxophone.

The other version is for saxophone (not so designated), two guitars, and bass. This score is dated 1985 and appears in Music Manuscript Notebook 6 (MMN6). There are parts in holograph for cello, bass, and guitar, with the name “Bill” (for Bill Frisell) written on the guitar part. The Julius Hemphill Papers includes an audio recording of a JAH Band concert from 1986, in which this piece was performed.

Found on: Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

From Marty Ehrlich: The annotation to the guitar part would imply that Hemphill performed this work with the version of the JAH Band that included Bill Frisell. Although there is no drum part written out for the small-group version, drums would be implied in a score like this.

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Georgia Blue

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This composition was performed and recorded with several different ensembles, including the World Saxophone Quartet, the Julius Hemphill Sextet, the Julius Hemphill Trio (alto saxophone, cello, and drums), and the JAH Band (alto saxophone, bass, guitar, drums, and percussion). The earliest commercial recording of the song comes from the JAH Band’s album Georgia Blue (1984). The Julius Hemphill Papers includes various parts, as well as scores for saxophone quartet (solo alto, alto, tenor, and baritone) and saxophone sextet (solo alto, soprano, alto, two tenor, and baritone). This composition was incorporated into the large-scale work “Long Tongues: A Saxophone Opera,” from which the sextet version was made. It is also included in the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet Collection published by Subito Music. 

Found on: Georgia Blue, Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Live from the New Music Cafe, Five Chord Stud, Live at Kassiopeia.

From Marty Ehrlich: Hemphill wrote this piece in honor of dancer Joanne Robinson. He performed it extensively with his JAH band and other small groups.

Near the end of his life, Hemphill could no longer perform on saxophone for a whole concert. The Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet became a Septet, with Julius playing some solos from his wheel chair. Tim Berne and Andy Laster joined the ensemble to round out the alto section with Sam Furnace and myself. On our last sextet recording under Julius’ leadership, Five Chord Stud, Julius was in the studio directing us. I was to play his two solo features, “Spiritual Chairs,” and “Georgia Blue,” and the solo alto part for “Georgia Blue” did not have chord changes written in. Knowing I would be playing this work and taking an improvised chorus over the ensemble arrangement, I had asked Julius prior to the session if he had a lead sheet for the chords. We were in his apartment, where he was mostly bedridden. He gave me the changes right then, from his memory, according to measure numbers and lengths. His great mental acuity and full command of his musical language was always there and always inspiring.

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