Label:
Arista – AL 1012, Freedom – AL 1012
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975
Style:
Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Side
A - Recorded on January 29,1975 at C.I.
Studios, New York City.
Side
B - Recorded in February 1972 at Archway
Studios, St. Louis, Missouri.
Art
Direction – Bob Heimall
Artwork
[Cover Art] – Bill Hoffman
Engineer
– Elvin Campbell (tracks: A1 to A4), Oliver Sain (track: B)
Liner
Notes – Michael Cuscuna
Liner
Notes [Poem On Sleeve] – Julius Hemphill, Wilma Moses
Photography
By – Ron Warwell
Producer
– Julius Hemphill (track: B), Michael Cuscuna (tracks: A1 to A4)
A1
- Reflections ..........................................................................
2:30
A2
- Lyric ....................................................................................
7:24
A3
- Skin 1 ................................................................................
10:07
A4
- Skin 2
..................................................................................
2:28
Julius
Hemphill / alto saxophone
'Black'
Arthur Blythe / alto saxophone
Hamiet
Bluiett / baritone saxophone
Abdul
Wadud /
cello
Barry
Altschul / drums, percussion
Daniel
Ben Zebulan / congas
B - The
Hard Blues ..................................................................
20:07
Julius
Hemphill / alto saxophone
Hamiet
Bluiett / baritone saxophone
Baikida
E. J. Carroll / trumpet
Abdul
Wadud /
cello
Phillip
Wilson /
drums, percussion
This historic LP includes a 20-minute performance with altoist Julius Hemphill, trumpeter Baikida Carroll, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett, cellist Abdul Wadud and drummer Philip Wilson ("The Hard Blues") taken from the same session that resulted in Dogon A.D. In addition, there are four briefer tracks that feature Hemphill, Bluiett, Wadud, altoist Arthur Blythe, drummer Barry Altschul and the congas of Daniel Zebulon. The music throughout is quite avant-garde but differs from the high-energy jams of the 1960s due to its emphasis on building improvisations as a logical outgrowth from advanced compositions. It's well worth several listens.
Julius Hemphill is a composer and an improviser: a composer in the tradition of Ellington, Mingus, and Ra, and an improviser with deep roots in the blues.
In ancient times,
when the preferred form of recorded musical conveyance was a grooved vinyl disc
called the "LP," there was a thing called the "side-length
track" a single piece of music that took up an entire side of a 2-sided
disc. "The Hard Blues" is one of those: 20 minutes of raw, grooving,
R&B-drenched free jazz (with a small dose of bebop) that makes up Side Two
of saxophonist Julius Hemphill's classic album 'Coon Bid'ness (the acerbic
title is the African-American Hemphill's deliberate co-optation of a racial
slur). Free jazz was ideal for the side-length track; the better for the
improvisers to stretch out ... which is, after all, what free jazz musicians
are wont to do. The musicians on "The Hard Blues" pack every possible
ounce of content into their allotted 20 minutes, imbuing leader Julius
Hemphill's avant-soul composition with enough energy to light up Motown on
Devil's Night. Other free jazz guys worked from an R&B perspective, both
before and after, but few adopted as gritty an approach as Hemphill and Co.
take here. Especially notable are the hyper-agile cellist Abdul Wadud, whose
trebly bassline twangs and grooves simultaneously, and Hemphill himself, who
puts his experience in Ike Turner's band to good use. Trumpeter Baikida Carroll
is terrific as well; his almost Dolphy-esque flights are a revelation. This is
rare and raw stuff of a kind seldom heard, then or now. (Review: Chris Kelsey)
This historic LP includes a 20-minute performance with altoist Julius Hemphill, trumpeter Baikida Carroll, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett, cellist Abdul Wadud and drummer Philip Wilson ("The Hard Blues") taken from the same session that resulted in Dogon A.D. In addition, there are four briefer tracks that feature Hemphill, Bluiett, Wadud, altoist Arthur Blythe, drummer Barry Altschul and the congas of Daniel Zebulon. The music throughout is quite avant-garde but differs from the high-energy jams of the 1960s due to its emphasis on building improvisations as a logical outgrowth from advanced compositions. It's well worth several listens.
Julius Hemphill is a composer and an improviser: a composer in the tradition of Ellington, Mingus, and Ra, and an improviser with deep roots in the blues.
Side
one of ‘Coon Bid’Ness (four tracks) works as a single composition. The opening
piece, “Reflections,” begins with a slow lament, the three horns and cello
creating dark, rich harmonies and utilizing a subtle vibrato to underline the
music’s pathos. “Lyric” continues in this vein; then the space begins to open
up. Hemphill, it seems, likes to work with several layers of sound, to slowly
take them apart – to the point of near dissolution – then to put them back together
again (though not necessarily the same as they were before). This is what
happens during “Lyric” and also during “Skin 1.” The latter piece especially
works its way into some very free space. Then “Skin 2” offers alternate choices
as to the side’s resolution; yet there is no real resolution, only lingering
afterthoughts. (Review: Henry Kuntz, 1975)
In
the U.S., it seems, the Seventies have been more a period of consolidation
rather than of innovation (as if the advances of the last decade had to be
justified before being built upon). In the process, however, some highly
original and beautiful music has been made, bringing together various (and
sometimes diverse) stylistic elements. Hard to say exactly where this music
will lead, but much of it will easily survive the moment of its own creation
and is well worth appreciating. Julius Hemphill’s album offers music of this
sort, and it’s recommended.
Excellent
stuff, comes highly recommended for anyone interested in avant-garde jazz.
If
you find it, buy this album!
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