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Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade For Harmony

By Mark Corroto
April 3, 2021
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Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade For Harmony

There is something inherently objectionable when a billionaire acquires an artistic masterpiece by say, Leonardo DaVinci or Claude Monet, only to sequester it from public view. You might feel the same about

Julius Hemphill

saxophone, alto
1938 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Julius Hemphill's recordings Dogon A.D. (Mbari, 1972) and 'Coon Bid'ness (Arista/Freedom, 1975). Both five star recordings, now out of print, cost a small fortune to acquire. Years ago saxophonist

Tim Berne

saxophone, alto
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Berne, a disciple of Hemphill, endeavored to rescue the saxophonist's Blue Boyé (Mbari, 1977) by rereleasing it in 1999 on Screwgun records. In that same spirit, this seven-CD boxset delivers seven-and-a-half hours of Hemphill's music. The kicker is that it is all previously unheard and unreleased until now. The boxset is a labor of love from another Hemphill disciple and former band mate

Marty Ehrlich

woodwinds
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Marty Ehrlich, who organized and combed through the Julius Hemphill Archive at the Fales Library of New York University to bring together this collection.

Julius Hemphill was born in 1938 in Fort Worth, Texas home to other jazz luminaries such as

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman,

Dewey Redman

saxophone, tenor
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Dewey Redman,

Ronald Shannon Jackson

drums
1940 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Ronald Shannon Jackson,

Prince Lasha

flute
1929 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Prince Lasha, and

John Carter

clarinet
b.1929

" data-original-title="" title="">John Carter. Where Coleman moved to Los Angeles, Hemphill gained prominence with the likes of

Oliver Lake

saxophone
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Oliver Lake and

Hamiet Bluiett

saxophone, baritone
1940 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamiet Bluiett in St. Louis. He cofounded The Black Artists Group (BAG) an ensemble similar to Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Hemphill eventually moved to new York, but in the wake of free jazz and the New Thing movements, record companies, especially US labels, were disinclined to follow creative music and they eventually put their resources into the neoconservative young lions. Hemphill will probably be best known for his critically successful and popular work in the World Saxophone Quartet and his saxophone sextet. None of which is heard here, nor is music from the Julius Hemphill Big Band. This box details Hemphill's work in the 1970s and 1980s in solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet settings and works for piano, chamber music, and with poets. The music is released as a CD boxset and each disc can be purchased individually as a download. Here is a brief take on this important document.

The first disc in the collection, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony I, contains quartet and quintet works. Hemphill with either

Olu Dara

trumpet
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Olu Dara or

Baikida Carroll

trumpet
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Baikida Carroll on trumpet, is a combination of

Warren Smith

drums
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Warren Smith,

Phillip Wilson

b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Phillip Wilson, and

Alex Cline

drums
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Alex Cline on drums with Jehri Riley's guitar, John Carter's clarinet and Abdul Wadud on cello. The music bridges Hemphill's St. Louis BAG experience with that of New York. With these tracks it is ever apparent Hemphill is composing and arranging music not so much for soloists, but for a group sound. In that way he can make four or five musicians sound like an orchestra. "Air Rings" circles in on itself while expanding ever outward. Disc six returns with the title The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony II in trio with Wadud and drummer

Michael Carvin

percussion
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Carvin. This outing is an obvious tribute to

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker with "K.C. Line," Hemphill's personalized take on bebop. His alto ignites a turbocharger of energy barely contained by his trio, only to change gears with "Testament #5" and espouse a meditative pose. Especially moving is "For Billie (for Billie Holiday)" a composition he favored and one that links him with the legendary

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young.

Hemphill has a special relationship with cellist Abdul Wadud. He can be heard on the duo recordings Oakland Duets (Music & Arts, 1993), Live In New York (Red Records, 1995), and disc two of this recording from an unknown date. Hemphill switches between alto and soprano saxophones playing mostly improvised music with the cellist. Their compatible sound and congruent nature makes freely improvised music sound thoroughly composed. That same compatibility is apparent in the Roi Boyé Solo and Text disc with Hemphill in a musical conversation with two poets and orators, K. Curtic Lyle and Malinké Elliott. Words accompany solo saxophone and flute plus an assortment of junkyard metal objects refashioned as tone generators. Hemphill's vision expands here into theatre (he often included dance in his performances) much like the the earlier experiments of poet Kenneth Patchen with jazz musicians.

Hemphill's performance at Joyous Lake, Woodstock, NY finds an all-star quartet with trumpeter Baikida, bassist

Dave Holland

bass
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Holland, and drummer

Jack DeJohnette

drums
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Jack DeJohnette. The concert is an occasion to expand on his original compositions with extended solos and flat-out ebullient music making. Same for The Janus Company disc with Carroll, drummer Alex Cline, and on two tracks the addition of Wadud. Besides two lengthy and intriguing improvisations the trio plus Wadud covers Hemphill's "Dogon A.D." For many the highpoint of this collection might be the Chamber Music disc. Opening with a solo piano piece "Parchment" Ursula Oppens negotiates the commissioned classical/new music composition before a chamber orchestra takes on "Mingus Gold," Hemphill's reimagining

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus' music as a three-movement suite for string quartet. The disc ends with Hemphill conducting a five-piece chamber ensemble through two untitled compositions. The music leaves you convinced, as Tim Berne and Marty Ehrlich, that Julius Hemphill deserves his place among the greatest musical minds of the 20th century.

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Track Listing

CD 1—The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony I: Dear Friend; Zuli; Band Introduction; At Harmony; Air Rings; Dimples: The Fat Lady on Parade.
CD 2—The Julius Hemphill/Abdul Wadud Duo: Syntax; Tightenin’; Slang; Unknown Title; Rhapsody; Downstairs.
CD 3—The Janus Company: Opener; #4; #3; Collective Improvisation; Dogon A.D.
CD 4—Chamber Music: Parchment (1988); Mingus Gold (1988); Nostalgia in Times Square; Alice’s Wonderland; Better Get Hit in Your Soul; Daedalus String Quartet: Unknown Title No. 1 (1981); Unknown Title No. 2 (1981).
CD 5—Roi Boyé Solo and Text: Trills; Unfiltered Dreams; Wade in the Water; Change My Clothes.
CD 6—The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony II: K.C. Line; Testament #5; Song Suite: At Harmony; Sixty/Sixty; Astrid; Mailika; Pull It; Rites; Pigskin; For Billie (for Billie Holiday); One/Waltz/Time.
CD 7—Live at Joyous Lake: Mirrors; Dung; Band Introduction; Would Boogie.

Personnel

Julius Hemphill

saxophone, alto

Baikida Carroll

trumpet

Abdul Wadud

cello

John Carter

clarinet

Alex Cline

drums

Olu Dara

trumpet

Jack Wilkins

saxophone, tenor

Jerome Harris

guitar, electric

Dave Holland

bass

Steuart Liebig

bass

Roberto Miranda

bass, acoustic

Michael Carvin

percussion

Nels Cline

guitar, electric

Jack DeJohnette

drums

Ray Anderson

trombone

Marty Ehrlich

woodwinds

Warren Smith

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Philip Wilson: drums; Ursula Oppens: piano; Daedalus String Quartet; Janet Grice: bassoon; John Purcell: oboe, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Bruce Purse: trumpet; Jehri Riley: guitar; K. Curtis Lyle: poetry; Malinké Elliott: recitation; Alan Jaffe: guitar.

Album information

Title: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade For Harmony | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: New World Records

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