Search - Julius Hemphill :: Five Chord Stud

Amazing follow-up to "Fat Man and the Hard Blues".

Douglas T Martin | Alpharetta, GA USA | 01/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This version of the Sextet is composed of Julius Hemphill (composer, conductor), Marty Erhlich (alto sax), Sam Furnace (alto), James Carter (tenor), Andrew White (tenor), and Fred Ho (baritone). Unfortunately, health problems prohibited Hemphill from playing in the Sextet on this recording; the open alto chair went to his protege Tim Berne. Of course Berne has a history of interpreting Hemphill's music; the songs on Berne's "Diminutive Mysteries (Mostly Hemphill)" were Julius Hemphill's "skeletal" compositions fleshed out by Berne and performed by Berne with David Sanborn and company.Unlike the Sextet's previous recording, "Fat Man and the Hard Blues" which featured mostly premires, "Five Chord Stud" reworks some of Hemphill's classics like "Mirrors" and "Georgia Blue" and adds some pieces with collective improvisations; the works are a little longer and the players can stretch out when soloing.The first piece, "Band Theme", kicks off the recording with Andrew White ripping through a tenor solo. Tim Berne leads off "Shorty" with a spiky solo alto intro before giving way to a slow and gritty James Carter tenor solo. Spiritual Chairs" is the most soulful instrumental I've ever heard - a gospel song for sax choir. Hemphill's arrangements for the Sextet make the horns sound like voices, like a choir accompanying a singer. Like most of Hemphill's recordings the music here is a little abstract, not what the casual jazz listener is used to hearing. But if you can get beyond that you'll hear a lot of soul in there.Recommended to fans of Tim Berne, the World Saxophone Quartet, and anyone who wants to broaden their horizons a little."