Hemphill (Jr.), Julius (Arthur)

Hemphill (Jr.), Julius (Arthur), alto saxophonist, composer; b. Fort Worth, Tex., Jan. 24, 1938; d. N.Y., April 2, 1995. His mother was a pianist. Hemphill studied clarinet with John Carter during the early 1950s. After serving in the Army in the early 1960s (and playing in the band), he worked with The Ike and Tina Turner Revue in the middle of the decade. In 1968, he moved to St. Louis, joined BAG (the Black Artists Group collective) with Oliver Lake and Lester Bowie. In 1971, he played in a group with pianist John Hicks. He formed his own record company, Mbari, 1972. In 1973, he moved to Chicago and began performing with Anthony Braxton; later that year, he performed in Paris and Sweden before settling in N.Y. During the 1970s, he played and recorded with Bowie, Kool and the Gang, and other popular acts. He was a cofounder of the World Saxophone Quartet in 1977 with Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, and David Murray; Hemphill continued to play with them until 1991. During the 1980s, Hemphill led his own small groups and on occasion a big band, in addition to working with Murray’s octet and The Yah band. Due to complications from diabetes, he had to have both legs amputated in 1990. In 1997 the Jazz Composers Alliance Annual Jazz Composition Contest was renamed the Julius Hemphill Composition Awards in his honor. A re-formed big band played a tribute to him in N.Y. in 1998. In addition to performing, Hemphill composed a number of extended compositions.

Discography

Dogon A.D. (1972); Coon Bid’ness (1975); Roi Boye and the Gotham Minstrels (1977); Raw Materials and Residuals (1977); Blue Boye (1977); Buster Bee (1978); Flat Out Jump Suite (1980); Georgia Blues (1984); Julius Hemphill Big Band (1988); Big Band (1988); Live from the New Music Café (1991); Fat Man and the Hard Blues (1991); Oakland Duets (1992); Five Chord Stud (1993).

—Lewis Porter