Julius Hemphill's "Dogon A.D."

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To quote JJ from last December : Did anybody here get a copy of Dogon A.D. when Tim Berne posted it at Screwgun on December 14th? I used to have this on vinyl and would really like to have it again, but I missed the window of opportunity at Screwgun (http://www.screwgunrecords.com).

A remarkable recording I heard years ago, mentioned by Ben Ratliff in his recent article on Hemphill in the Times.

― Maury Martin (Maury Martin), Sunday, 12 November 2006 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

I got it via Screwgun 'cause I wasn't sure I still had my vinyl copy, but the MP3s may now be lost due to a hard-drive failure. So try this; my wife, knowing nothing about this thread, just passed it along to me.

― mark 0 (mark 0), Sunday, 12 November 2006 16:40 (nineteen years ago)

This is one of my all time faves, along with Hard Blues. I wonder why this has never been reissued?

― QuantumNoise (Justin Farrar), Sunday, 12 November 2006 17:18 (nineteen years ago)

Good question. There are several BAG recordings that have never seen the light of CD day. Atavistic has rescued some Luther Thomas/Human Arts Ensemble recordings, but two others are obscure and vinyl: Under the Sun and Whisper of Dharma. Like Dogon, these are worth seeking out, but difficult to find.

Now that you have Dogon AD, try the Nothing Is blog for some other free jazz masterpieces.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

this album is excellent.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 November 2006 20:04 (nineteen years ago)

I've been wanted to hear that Nommo record for quite some time. (Linked to above). It's as good as I'd hoped.

And yes, Dogon AD (is there a thread on this one already?) is utterly fantastic and awesome.

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 14 November 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

nommo is great, yeah. listened to that the other night.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 14 November 2006 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

I loves me some Don Pullen.

― It's the lazy and immoral way to become super hip. (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 14 November 2006 22:09 (nineteen years ago)

There's a Black Saint record with Don Pullen and Sam Rivers from 1975 (I think) that I really want to hear. He's great in the Mingus band (see at Carnegie Hall, though admittedly that particular show is stolen by Roland Kirk and Hamiett Bluiett).

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 14 November 2006 22:23 (nineteen years ago)

'nother place Pullen is great: the David Murray "Shakill's Warrior" discs

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Tuesday, 14 November 2006 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

i've been looking for this for a long time.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 03:45 (nineteen years ago)

Mosaic Select's three-disc Don Pullen box is a must own. Great, great stuff.

― totph (Totph), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

I want this album

― sonderangerbot, Monday, 31 December 2007 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

Which one, sonderangerbot? The Hemphill? The Murray? The Pullen box? Capricorn Rising (Pullen + Sam Rivers)? I think I can help with some of those but not all of them.

― Soren Kierkegaard Existential Light Orchestra, Monday, 31 December 2007 02:30 (eighteen years ago)

Actually I was first of all looking for "Dogon A.D.". Not very familiar with Hemphill but from what I've read that seems like a good introduction...

― sonderangerbot, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:08 (eighteen years ago)

eleven years pass...

I bought Dogon A.D. when it was reissued on CD back in 2011. Now it's selling on Discogs for $60-plus.

Listening to Hemphill's Fat Man and the Hard Blues tonight - what an incredible record that is, too. He was a really unique talent.

― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 01:15 (six years ago)

Jesus, even the reissue LP is $65-70.

― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 05:23 (six years ago)

hard blues is an incredible piece of music

― marcos, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 10:47 (six years ago)

Isn't that on Coon Bidness? But recorded at the same time as Dogon AD?

― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 12:07 (six years ago)

Yeah, "Hard Blues" is on Coon Bid'ness, but when International Phonograph reissued Dogon A.D. they added it as a bonus track since it came from the same sessions.

― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 13:20 (six years ago)

seven months pass...

incredible record

― budo jeru, Sunday, 1 December 2019 14:39 (six years ago)

one year passes...

I love this album and The Hard Blues as well, what a maverick.

― calzino, Friday, 6 August 2021 13:29 (four years ago)

Recently introduced to this and was instant. Something about the heft reminds me of rock power trios.

― Citole Country (bendy), Friday, 6 August 2021 19:07 (four years ago)

his brilliant drummer on this one, Phillip Wilson, played with Art Ensemble of Chicago and Paul Butterfield. He's blues and jazz!

― calzino, Friday, 6 August 2021 20:14 (four years ago)

The first track on this goes SO hard

― J. Sam, Saturday, 7 August 2021 01:42 (four years ago)

four years pass...

New CD reissue via the venerable New World Records (and an LP reissue via Superior Viaduct). The NWR website has a link to the CD liner notes which I enjoyed

https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/julius-hemphill-dogon-ad

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Friday, 6 February 2026 23:56 (two weeks ago)

fuck yeah! love this album.

― calzino, Saturday, 7 February 2026 00:00 (two weeks ago)

The notes, by Marty Ehrlich, feature this interesting fact!

The [cello] ostinato on the composition Dogon A.D. was originally composed for vibraphone

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Saturday, 7 February 2026 00:39 (two weeks ago)

this rules, thanks for bumping this thread!

― obvious old hat (rob), Saturday, 7 February 2026 00:46 (two weeks ago)

Waiting for New World to send me a copy of the CD. I wonder if it's a different/better master than the International Phonograph CD from 15 years ago; that one had a noticeable flaw in the tape but supposedly a German label (or manufacturer) donated a copy of the master tape to the Hemphill estate.

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Saturday, 7 February 2026 01:19 (two weeks ago)

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