JULIUS HEMPHILL – 'Coon Bid'ness (LP-1975)

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.

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 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)

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!

WILDFLOWERS 4 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP4-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7048

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 4

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded May 14 thru May 23, 1976 at Studio Rivbea, 24 Bond Street, New York.

Engineer [Assistant] – Les Kahn

Engineer [Chief] – Ron Saint Germain

Engineer [Remote Assistant] – Matt Murray

Executive-producer – Harley I. Lewin

Liner Notes – Ross Firestone

Mastered By – Ray Janos

Photography By – Peter Harron

Producer – Alan Douglas, Michael Cuscuna, Sam Rivers

A1 - Hamiet Bluiett – Tranquil Beauty ....................................................... 6:30

         Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet – Hamiet Bluiett

         Bass – Juney Booth

         Drums – Charles Bobo Shaw, Don Moye

         Guitar – Billy Patterson, Butch Campbell

         Trumpet – Olu Dara

A2 - Julius Hemphill – Pensive ................................................................. 10:00

         Alto Saxophone – Julius Hemphill

         Cello – Abdul Wadud

         Drums – Phillip Wilson

         Guitar – Bern Nix

         Percussion – Don Moye

B1 - Jimmy Lyons – Push Pull ................................................................... 5:20

         Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Lyons

         Bass – Hayes Burnett

         Bassoon – Karen Borca

         Drums – Henry Maxwell Letcher

B2 - Oliver Lake – Zaki .............................................................................. 9:30

         Alto Saxophone – Oliver Lake

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Phillip Wilson

         Electric Guitar – Michael Jackson

B3 - David Murray – Shout Song ............................................................... 2:30

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Stanley Crouch

         Tenor Saxophone – David Murray

         Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Olu Dara

...The common critical consensus is that the 1970s, particularly the latter half of the decade, were the historical low point for jazz in America. Very few albums survive from that era, compared with the avalanches of reissues and vault clearing box-sets of 1950s and 60s groups. Part of this is, of course, due to the short shrift granted the avant-garde by most jazz historians. The music of the so-called "New Thing," which by rote doctrine had burned itself out by 1968, in fact continued throughout the 1970s, expanding to Europe in search of audiences and growing and evolving artistically to astonishing levels of power and beauty...

The 5-LPs set Wildflowers documents one small part of this forgotten music scene. Recorded over ten days in May 1976 at Sam Rivers’s Studio RivBea, this set contains an overwhelming amount of truly beautiful jazz performances, by names recognizable to almost anyone with a serious interest in the music. Saxophonists include Sam Rivers, David Murray, David S. Ware, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Byard Lancaster, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, Julius Hemphill and Henry Threadgill. Drummers include Sunny Murray, Don Moye, Steve McCall, Andrew Cyrille, and Stanley Crouch. Bassist Fred Hopkins is practically omnipresent here...

If you find it, buy this album!

CHARLES BOBO SHAW and The Human Arts Ensemble – Çonceré Ntasiah (LP-1978)

Label: Universal Justice – UJ 101
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1978
Style: Free Jazz, Jazz-Rock
Recorded at Studio Rivbea, New York, 1977. 
Mastered at The Master Cutting Room, New York.
Design – Stephanie Blumenthal
Mastered By – Joe Brescio
Photography By – Jacki Ochs, Rob Söteman
Photography By [Front Cover] – Giuseppe Pino
Producer [Post Production] – Michael Cuscuna
Recorded By – Ira Seigel

Charles Bobo Shaw & The Human Arts Ensemble / Çonceré Ntasiah (Universal Justice UJ101), rare small private label record issue in 1978.

Tracklist:
A1 - Steam Away Kool 500  9:53
A2 - Jacki Bee Tee  8:16
B1 - Concere Ntasiah (written-By – Abdul Wadud)  10:41
B2 - Be Bo Bo Be  5:09

Personnel:
CHARLES BOBO SHAW - drums
JOSEPH BOWIE - trombone
JULIUS HEMPHILL - soprano saxophone
FRANCOIS NYOMO MANTUILA - acoustic & electric guitars
ALEX BLAKE - bass, electric bass
ABDUL WADUD - cello

It was recorded around 1977, and released in 1981. The first track has a gritty, rockin' bass line, and a sound that would probably fit in with what the No Wave scenesters were digging on toward the end of the 1970s. Jacki Bee Tee is free improv number that has a bit of a Latin groove to it. Some more free jazz follows on the third track (Concere Ntasiah), which has an almost Gothic rhythm thing anchoring the proceedings - plenty of open space, and quiet moments, with some lovely acoustic guitar soloing. Be Bo Bo Be closes the album with a sound that I'd almost characterize as 1960s Archie Shepp or Marion Brown gone electric, with a splash of Revolutionary Ensemble thrown in - it's definitely fire music.



If you find it, buy this album!