Tzadik, Composer Series: TZ 7090 
http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7090

* Julius Hemphill: composer

* Pheeroan ak Laff: Drums And Percussion
* Tim Berne: Alto And Baritone Sax
* Robert DeBellis: Tenor Sax, Flute, Clarinet
* Marty Ehrlich: Soprano And Alto Sax, Flute
* Erik Friedlander: Cello
* Sam Furnace: Soprano And Alto Sax, Flute
* Oliver Lake: Soprano And Alto Sax, Flute
* Ursula Oppens: Piano
* J.D. Parran: Baritone Sax, Flute, Clarinet
* Aaron Stewart: Tenor Sax, Flute

* Pacific String Quartet


Review
~~~~~~

by Thom Jurek
 
http://www.allmusic.com/album/julius-hemphill-one-atmosphere-r651368

Hats off to Tzadik for this long overdue album of Julius Hemphill's creative
music compositions. Here are three works, ranging in date from 1976 to 1992, for
three different instrumental settings. The first, "One Atmosphere," is one of
his most compelling pieces, written for piano and string quartet. The Pacifica
String Quartet, a group synonymous with modern music, and the legendary vanguard
pianist Ursula Oppens offer the premiere of this work, a subtle, nearly pastoral
range of tonal studies for groups of strings laid out along droning, shimmering
ostinatos with Oppens accenting the end of each written line with a restatement
of not only the original notes but their contrapuntal extensions on into the
next. Near the end, the piece erupts with strings and piano elongating the
original ideas, stating them in almost serial phrases. "Savannah Suite," a
mid-length work for cello, flute, and percussion, concentrates on the
interrelationships of the various kinds of lyric tones and rural themes that
obsessed Hemphill throughout his life. Cellist Erik Friedlander, flutist Marty
Ehrlich, and the great Pheeroan akLaff perform it with great economy and
emotion. Here the blues are the centerpiece. The final piece here, a
33-and-a-half-minute work for seven woodwinds, receives its premiere. Played by
former students like Tim Berne, collaborators such as Oliver Lake, and downtown
stalwarts such as Sam Furnace, this is easily the most monumental and
breathtaking piece of music Hemphill ever composed. Full of lines that seemingly
begin in the ether and go nowhere, only to be retraced later on by different
instruments and varying time signatures crossing numerous musical eras, this is
a labyrinthine work that is the epitome of Hemphill's musicality and deep,
almost reverential dedication to the wind family.