Crimson The Boye National Crusade For Harmony (7CD)

"Somehow I discovered I could write this music and play the saxophone. All that stumbling around and stuff, I ended up finally being able to play it a little bit. I ain't the greatest by any means, not even close - but I think I've got depth, a broadnss of my musical sensibility, that a lot of soloists don't have, because they focus on that one thing, soloing. I want to develop the whole backdrop, the scenery. Once I found out that was possible, that I could collaborate with people, I came alive musiclly." - Julius Hemphill In response to the arguably self-righteous pronouncements made in the 1990s as to what jazz is and isn't, Julius Hemphill (1938–1995) spoke up as he had done throughout his career: "Well, you often hear people nowadays talkig about the tradition, tradition, tradition. But they have tunnel vision in this tradition. Because tradition in African-American music is wide as all outdoors." This collection of music, this celebration of artistic collaborations that engaged JuliusHemphill throughout his life, adds much to what we know of his creativity in exploring the implications in that wide space. His work, done in what was not much more than twenty-five years, illuminated so many byways of that protean tradition, created n America against the direst of odds. Equally vital, Julius claimed, with great passion, his space to be expressive. He worked inward as much as he looked outward, in his artistic creativity and cultural engagements. "This box set contains musical comositions and performances that have come to light from the Julius Hemphill Archive at the Fales Library of New York University". "These performances present thirty-five Hemphill compositions culled from close to 180 audio and visual documents of his wok. Twenty-five of these works did not receive a commercial recording in his lifetime". "Also represented in this box set are ensemble contexts Julius formed which did not receive substantial, or in some cases, any public documentation. These performanes put Julius's improvisational work as a saxophonist and flutist to the fore, from solo to quintet contexts. (The one exception being Disc 4, where we hear pieces Julius wrote for others to interpret.) Equally important, these performances deepen our exprience of Julius's long associations in artistic collaboration". - Marty Ehrlich (from the liner notes)