Diminutive Mysteries (Mostly Hemphill) is an album by saxophonist Tim Berne which was recorded in 1992 and released on the JMT label.[1][2] The album is a tribute to Berne's mentor Julius Hemphill. Alongside Berne's regular band is featured guest David Sanborn, in an outlier among his more mainstream R&B work.
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This is certainly the most unusual David Sanborn recording to date. Avant-gardist Tim Berne (heard here on alto and baritone) and the popular R&B star Sanborn (mostly leaving his trademark alto behind to play sopranino) share a great respect for altoist Julius Hemphill and the St. Louis free jazz movement... they perform seven often-emotional Hemphill pieces plus Berne's "The Maze." Sanborn is to be congratulated for successfully stretching himself although this is very much Berne's date".[3]
The Guardian's John Fordham wrote: "The pieces are raw-boned and clamouring but rigorously structured and spine-tinglingly harmonised. Sometimes they sound like skewed bebop and sometimes like stealthily building improv, and Sanborn's soul sound... loses none of its famous wail."[4]
John Howard of Perfect Sound Forever called the album "A stunning tour de force... one of the finest jazz albums ever made," and commented: "the album ranges in mood from the sublimely beautiful 'Writhing Love Lines' to... 'The Maze,' 21 minutes of tangling and untangling structure."[9]
Track listing
All compositions by Julius Hemphill except as indicated