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The Hemphill Stringtet: The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill
by Troy Dostert
One of the most multifaceted saxophonists to come out of the 1970s-80s jazz avant-garde, Julius Hemphill exuded both fervid power and delicate sensitivity, always with an underpinning of swing to help anchor him within the jazz tradition. While his iconic releases like Dogon A.D. (Mbari, 1972) and Flat-Out Jump Suite (Black Saint, 1980) are rightly considered classics, exemplifying Hemphill's rich harmonic sensibility and improvisational prowess, sometimes forgotten are the wonderful duet releases he recorded with one of his go-to colleagues, ...
Continue ReadingThe Hemphill Stringtet: The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill
by Mark Corroto
Let us borrow a famous tagline from the dairy industry: Got Hemphill? If not, it is time to take a closer listen. Julius Hemphill (1938-1995) was a towering figure in the creative music scenes of both St. Louis, where he co-founded the Black Artists' Group (BAG), and New York's vibrant loft jazz scene of the 1970s and '80s. At a time when Miles Davis was going electric and fusion bands were battling for airtime against the neo- conservative ...
Continue ReadingThe Hemphill String Stringtet: The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill
by Glenn Astarita
The Hemphill Stringtet's debut album, Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill is a vibrant tribute to the late jazz composer and saxophonist Julius Hemphill (1938--1995). This string quartet, featuring violinists Curtis Stewart and Sam Bardfeld, violist Stephanie Griffin and cellist Tomeka Reid, reimagines Hemphill's compositions with a fresh chamber music perspective. Formed in 2022, the ensemble aims to amplify Hemphill's legacy as a pivotal Black American composer while infusing his blues-inflected jazz with improvisational flair rooted in African American traditions. ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill: The Other One
by Giuseppe Segala
Giunto sulla soglia delle ottanta primavere, Henry Threadgill non lascia sbiadire la propria splendida vitalità creativa. Lo ha fatto quest'anno sia con la pubblicazione dell'imperdibile autobiografiaEasily Slip into Another World, che con una nuova realizzazione discografica, The Other One. Pure questa imperdibile, si colloca tra i lavori che lo hanno visto impegnato esclusivamente come compositore e direttore dell'ensemble, non in qualità di strumentista e solista, sulla traccia dei precedenti Old Locks and Irregular Verbs, del 2016, e Double ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill: The Other One
by John Ephland
Listening to Henry Threadgill's music, the bobbing and weaving doesn't maintain a continuity but can jump from one strand to another, one scene to another, as in a dream. It is tonal and not, just as dreams are, perhaps, rhapsodic or unkempt, the story or plot being as tangible, fungible as a summer breeze. Much is made of Threadgill's chamber-music esthetic. And rightly so. It is “so chamber music precise it must all be premeditated, right?" asked the ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill Ensemble: The Other One
by Troy Dostert
Now that Henry Threadgill has begun receiving the accolades he has long deserved--the Pulitzer Prize he won in 2016 for In for a Penny, In for a Pound (Pi Recordings, 2015) being just the most prominent example--it is impressive to find him still relentlessly stretching himself as a performer and composer. Since his first forays into the jazz avant-garde in the 1970s, the maverick multi-instrumentalist has always made music that challenges listeners in exciting ways, but it is his uncanny ...
Continue ReadingCarl Maguire's Floriculture: Sided Silver Solid
by AAJ Italy Staff
Floriculture è una band, allestita dal pianista Carl Maguire nel lontano 2001, che esegue solo composizioni del leader. Nel 2006 ha dato alle stampe l'acclamato, omonimo album di debutto; questo Sided Silver Solid arriva dopo tre anni di attesa e con una formazione allargata grazie all'aggiunta della violista Stephanie Griffin. Inserimento che si rivela decisivo per orientare in modo ancor più netto la visione musicale di Maguire verso una musica indefinita, difficilmente etichettabile, dove si annulla il confine tra scrittura ...
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