Composer Portrait: Julius Hemphill

Thu., Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., $12-$18, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com, arsnovaworkshop.com.

by Shaun Brady

JAZZ

Though attention is always paid more to creation than to interpretation, late Texas saxophonist Julius Hemphill deserves to be honored as much for his skill as an arranger as for his compositions. That he managed to evoke as deep and rich a sound as he did from the World Saxophone Quartet is evidence enough, but for a full manifestation of his corralling of sound, check out Hemphill's sole big band outing, a 1988 date for Nonesuch Records. On the album's six tracks, Hemphill works his instrumentalist's lines into thick, intricate patterns as if making lace out of wrought iron. No stranger to thorny large-ensemble work, Bobby Zankel will turn his Warriors of the Wonderful Sound big band loose on this material with the addition of Hemphill collaborator and standard-bearer Marty Ehrlich and a pair of French horns for the second installment of Ars Nova Workshop's three-part Composer Portrait. Then Ehrlich and the Warriors' sax line will tackle several of Hemphill's sax sextet pieces.

Thu., Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., $12-$18, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com, arsnovaworkshop.com.