Julius Hemphill; Saxophonist, Composer Founded Quartet

Julius Hemphill, 57, an influential saxophonist and composer who helped found the World Saxophone Quartet. Hemphill’s compositions and arrangements had a rich big-band sound but remained squarely in the tradition of black music and the blues. A native of Ft. Worth, he moved in 1966 to St. Louis, where he helped found the Black Artist Group. In 1972, Hemphill recorded two albums, “Dogon A.D.” and “Coon Bid’ness.” Soon after, he moved to New York City, where he helped form the World Saxophone Quartet in 1976. The group, whose other members were David Murray, Hamlet Bluiett and Oliver Lake, performed his compositions. Among them were such mixed-media events as “The Orientation of Sweet Willie Rollbar” and “Obituary: Cosmos for Three Parts.” Hemphill left the quartet in 1989 and formed the Julius Hemphill Sextet in 1991. On Sunday in New York of complications of diabetes.