Coon Bid'ness | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1975 | |||
Recorded | January 29, 1975; C.I. Studios, New York City except "The Hard Blues" February 1972 | |||
Genre | Jazz, avant-garde jazz | |||
Length | 42:36 | |||
Label | Arista | |||
Producer | Michael Cuscuna | |||
Julius Hemphill chronology | ||||
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Coon Bid'ness is an album released by Julius Hemphill in 1975 on Arista featuring performances by Hemphill, Baikida Carroll, Abdul Wadud, Phillip Wilson, Arthur Blythe, Barry Altschul and Daniel Zebulon. The final track, "The Hard Blues," was recorded at the same recording session as Hemphill's debut album Dogon A.D. . After Hemphill's death in 1995, Freedom Records re-released the album as a CD under the name Reflections. [1] [2]
Regarding the album title, Hemphill recalled: "This was '75, and the title is a reference to minstrel shows. That's a reference to music and an era in which blacks had flowered a little bit. They used to call them coon shows, and stuff. And so I was just getting in some bicentennial licks." [3]
In 2011, writer Greg Tate and musician LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs launched a print on demand magazine titled Coon Bidness, named after the Hemphill album. [4] [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The editors of AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars, and reviewer Scott Yanow wrote: "The music throughout is quite avant-garde but differs from the high-energy jams of the 1960s due to its emphasis on building improvisations as a logical outgrowth from advanced compositions. It's well worth several listens.". [6]
Writer Richard Williams stated that, on "The Hard Blues," "Hemphill seemed to have fused the harsh, elemental sound of John Lee Hooker, the warmth and colour of an Ellington small group and the collective exuberance of a Mingus ensemble into something that pointed a way to the future." [9]
Critic Gary Giddins also praised "The Hard Blues," commenting: "How startlingly fresh that music remains: the sinuous, sensuous, riveting directness of his blues is at once fiercely elemental and engagingly modern." [10]
Musician Henry Kuntz noted that the first four tracks (Side A of the LP) function "as a single composition," and suggested that "Hemphill... likes to work with several layers of sound, to slowly take them apart – to the point of near dissolution – then to put them back together again (though not necessarily the same as they were before)." He remarked: "In the U.S., it seems, the Seventies have been more a period of consolidation rather than of innovation (as if the advances of the last decade had to be justified before being built upon)... Hemphill's album offers music of this sort, and it's recommended." [11]
All tracks by Julius Hemphill
Tracks 1-4:
Track 5:
The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music.
Julius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.
Dogon A.D. is an album by saxophonist Julius Hemphill. It was recorded in February 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, and was initially released on LP in limited quantities later that year by Hemphill's own Mbari Records, a label he created for the express purpose of issuing his own music. The album was reissued on LP by the Freedom label in 1977, and was reissued on CD in 2011, with extra liner notes and reproductions of the artwork from both the Mbari and Freedom releases, by International Phonograph. A fourth track from the recording session, titled "Hard Blues," and featuring guest saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, was originally released on Hemphill's 1975 album Coon Bid'ness, and was included as a bonus track on the 2011 reissue of Dogon A.D., bringing together all the music from the session.
Abdul Wadud was an American cellist known for his work in jazz and classical settings. Jazz musician and fellow composer Tomeka Reid hailed Abdul Wadud's "Camille" in a 2020 feature in the New York Times on music that one could play to make friends fall in love with the cello.
Baikida Carroll is an American jazz trumpeter.
Steppin' with the World Saxophone Quartet is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1979. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.
Revue is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Italian Black Saint label. The album features performances and compositions by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.
W.S.Q. is a 1980 album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Italian Black Saint label. The album features performances and compositions by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.
Live in Zurich is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet recorded in 1981 and released on the Italian Black Saint label.
Live at Brooklyn Academy of Music is a live album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Italian Black Saint label.
Dances and Ballads is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet, released in 1988 and featuring performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.
Rhythm and Blues is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Elektra label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray and was first released in 1989.
Requiem for Julius is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released by the Justin Time label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, John Purcell, Oliver Lake and David Murray and is dedicated to the band's founding member Julius Hemphill.
Metamorphosis is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released in 1990 on the Elektra/Nonesuch label and features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake and David Murray with Chief Bey, Melvin Gibbs and Mor Thiam. It was the first album recorded by the group after the departure of foundation member Julius Hemphill and their first to feature additional musicians.
Point of No Return is the debut album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Moers Music label in 1977.
Breath of Life is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet. It was recorded in 1992 and released on the Elektra/Nonesuch label in 1994 and features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake and David Murray with Fontella Bass and a rhythm section.
Raw Materials and Residuals is an album by jazz saxophonist Julius Hemphill featuring cellist Abdul Wadud and percussionist Don Moye recorded in 1977 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions is a series of five albums recorded May 14–23, 1976 at Studio Rivbea, a loft jazz space in New York City, run by Sam Rivers and his wife Bea. The albums include performances by groups led by musicians such as Hamiet Bluiett, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Dave Burrell, Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, Ken McIntyre, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Sam Rivers, Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, and Randy Weston. The recordings were originally released in 1977 on the Douglas and Casablanca labels as five separate LPs, and were reissued in 1999 by Knit Classics as a 3-CD set.
Oakland Duets is a live album by saxophonist Julius Hemphill and cellist Abdul Wadud. It was recorded at the Oakland Museum in Oakland, California, on November 13 and 14, 1992, and was released by Music & Arts in 1993.
Live from the New Music Cafe is a live album by the Julius Hemphill Trio, led by saxophonist Hemphill, and featuring cellist Abdul Wadud and drummer Joe Bonadio. It was recorded on September 27, 1991, at the New Music Cafe in New York City, and was released by Music & Arts in 1992.