Some Bid'ness

I'm in the process of listening to albums that I haven't played in literally years, and I pulled Julius Hemphill's 'Coon Bid'ness (Arista Freedom) from the shelf this morning. I always liked Julius' alto, but I had forgotten how great the compositions are on this recording. They defy easy categorization, and share a fascination with timbre and a sense of occasional whimsy with the AACM membership. The line-up is pretty great too: (Black) Arthur Blythe, Hamiett Bluiett, Baikida E. J. Carroll, Abdul Wadud on the funkiest cello you'll ever hear, Barry Altschul, Philip Wilson.

The Hard Blues, indeed.