Julius Hemphill, Blue Boyé (side C)

Julius Hemphill might be best-remembered for his work with the World Saxophone Quartet, or perhaps for his classic 1972 LP Dogon A.D.  On 1977's ambitious double-album Blue Boyé, Hemphill plays everything: saxophones, flute, and even a bit of clapping.  Some tracks feature a sole instrumental voice, but most rely on layered overdubs.  A sax melody might sit on a bed of flutes, or multiple saxophones might create contrapuntal interplay which must have been challenging to create using overdubs and not live interaction.  At times, Hemphill's saxophone borrows a bit from Coltrane's propulsive lines, and at others, he creates a harmonic field less referential of jazz traditions.  There are occasional forays into texture and extended technique, but they're used more for punctuation and emphasis than as core elements of the compositions.  Each side contains two long pieces, with each piece maintaining a consistent palette and approach.  Any overdubs that are used to create a piece are kept consistent — while they often drop out and return, they're neither replaced with different instruments nor piled on in layers.  Some instruments are surrounded by room reverb, while others are dry, but it can be hard to tell whether this variety was intentional or coincidental.  The compositions extend for long enough to emphasize their processes and create a lasting environment, to durations that seem to grow less interesting on purpose.  The line drawing and hand written fonts on the cover perfectly capture the music inside, with beauty, simplicity, and slightly chaotic abstraction.