Julius Hemphill - Flat-out Jump Suite 'June 4 & 5, 1980

Tracks list

Tracks

1.Ear  
2.Mind(1st Part)  
3.Mind(2nd Part)  
4.Heart  
5.Body

Personnel

Julius Hemphill - flute, tenor saxophone
Olu Dara - trumpet
Abdul Wadud - cello
Warren Smith - percussion

A suite in four parts aligned with aspects of sensual awareness, Julius
Hemphill's Flat-Out Jump Suite runs from the light and delicate to the hard and
funky. "Ear" flutters by on the leader's flute, all gossamer and weightlessness,
supported by Warren Smith's soft cymbal work. Olu Dara's clear, gumbo-soaked
trumpet, one of the great sounds from the '80s jazz avant-garde, heralds "Body,"
in conjunction with Abdul Wadud's bluesy cello. With "Mind," the pace picks up
-- Hemphill switches to tenor and the piece achieves a nice, loose throb as much
of the time is devoted to collective improvisation. Finally, with "Body," the
natural progression reaches its logical destination, a funky groove all supple
and greasy. If not up to the ecstatic levels of his classic "The Hard Blues,"
it's still an easily enjoyable number with Wadud laying down cooking lines like
few other cellists dream of. Flat-Out Jump Suite is not in the top shelf of
Hemphill albums, but it's a solid set from a quartet of fine musicians.

 Brian Olewnick

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