Five Chord Stud

FIVE CHORD STUD documents the work of a great composer at a point in his career when the physical ravages of time had taken an enormous toll on him. A compelling improviser with a blazing sound, ferocious attack and unique sense of harmonic and rhythmic displacement, Julius Arthur Hemphill was no longer able to perform on the saxophone. But his cohorts in the Julius Hemphill Sextet held him and his work in such high esteem, that they volunteered to carry on as a band, as long as he promised to keep composing for them.

Extending on the extraordinary achievements of FAT MAN AND THE HARD BLUES, FIVE CHORD STUD is Hemphill's last recorded work; an immaculately structured set that represents the pinnacle of his achievements in orchestration, modern harmony, voice leading, polyphony and group improvisation. On emotional workouts such as "Mr. Cryptical," "Mirrors" and "Flush," Hemphill's craggy chords and stark, elliptical melodies are spread to emphasize the widest, most expressive intervals--each horn speaking with a long tongue in an uncanny approximation of the human voice.

Such is the power of Hemphill's writing that while he never blows a note, his presence is keenly felt in every section and every solo, whether written or improvised. On the extended changes of the title tune, Hemphill's Sextet bears less resemblance to traditional saxophone sections than to one of Ligetti's dark post-modern choirs--or a polytonal doo wop group--as each soloist explores the tonal extremities of his horn. Yet for all of Hemphill's exploratory verve, there remains an alluring lyrical undercurrent to much of his work, revealing itself in the romantic, song-like cadences of "Georgia Blue," and the bluesy, riffing figures of "Band Theme" and "The Moat And The Bridge." And with the closing "Spiritual Chairs," Hemphill's waltzing theme and lush contrasting harmonies inspire alto player Marty Enrlich and tenor Andrew White to ecumenical hosannas and testimonies as grand as any spiritual.