Julius Hemphill - One Atmosphere

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. Read More