Julius Hemphill: Dogon A.D. Clip

Описание: "An important acquisition during the assembling of the Julius Hemphill
Archive were ten video cassettes of Hemphill theatrical performances in St. Louis taken by visual artist John Millaire, who worked closely with Julius and Malinké documenting
these works. Taken in one of the first formats for video, some of these tapes had not been seen in fifty years. Upon making the digital transfers, we discover that
the videotape captures complete performances of Shadows/Echos, Dogon A.D., and Rites as found in the compositional notebook.

"The video [from which the slideshow images derive], made with one camera, c. 1970–71, is a dance and music performance
in an open room, probably in the converted warehouse that was the home
of the Black Artist Group in St. Louis. A range of African sculptures and masks, bowls
and tapestries, frame the dance space, all from the art collection of St. Louisan Dr.
Donald Suggs. Around that space is the Julius Hemphill Quartet: Hemphill on alto saxophone and flute, Baikida Carroll on trumpet, Phillip Wilson on drums, and John
Hicks, the great pianist from St. Louis, here playing vibes. (The ostinato on the composition
Dogon A.D. was originally composed for vibraphone.) The musicians are each
in full-length African ceremonial robes.

"The music accompanies two dancers, probably from the Katherine Dunham
Company, which was based in East St. Louis, joined by the master Senegalese percussionist
Mor Thiam and his cousin Zak Diouf, who were resident artists with the
Dunham Company. The dancers create a series of solo and duo choreographies,
integrating these art objects into their movement....

“ 'A. D.' refers either to Adaptive Dance or Altered Dance. It may be
Hemphill’s way of defining his own composition. It may equally refer to the fact that
the Dogon did not share their full dance with the outsider, an act of survival and resistance
which would have resonated with Julius. Oliver Lee Jackson has spoken often to
me of Julius’s sense of simpatico with the Dogon idea of “functional spirituality.” That
through their dance, through their rites, the sky opened, and the rains did come." -- Marty Ehrlich, from the liner notes from New World Records' reissue of DOGON A.D. Meticulously remastered, it includes a 28-page booklet with new notes by Marty Ehrlich.

This, at long last, is the definitive edition of this seminal jazz masterwork.