One of the most important jazz albums of the 1970s – finally in its definitive edition. Julius Hemphill's Dogon A.D. is the missing link between the avant-garde and the blues, between the cotton fields and outer space. Recorded on a freezing February day in 1972 at Oliver Sain's Archway Studios in St. Louis – no heat, malfunctioning equipment, some musicians didn't even show up – and yet what emerged was nothing short of a masterpiece. An "almost accidental classic" that has haunted collectors and musicians ever since.

Hemphill originally pressed only 500 copies on his own Mbari Records. Five hundred. Gone immediately. Co-founder of the Black Artists Group (BAG), founder of the World Saxophone Quartet, mentor to Tim Berne and David Sanborn – Hemphill was a visionary who saw music from the bottom up. "This ain't out of the conservatory," he said. "This is out of the neighborhood."

The title refers to the Dogon people of Mali – keepers of ancient astronomical knowledge about the star Sirius and its invisible companion, secrets that Western science only confirmed in the 1970s. Hemphill's music channels that same cosmic mystery: earthbound and transcendent, funky and free, brutal and beautiful. Baikida Carroll on trumpet, Abdul Wadud on cello, Phillip Wilson on drums – telepathic interplay throughout. The bonus track "The Hard Blues" adds Hamiet Bluiett on baritone – a slow, churning vamp that's as devastating as anything in the free jazz canon.

Meticulously remastered with a 28-page booklet featuring new liner notes by Marty Ehrlich (Hemphill's student, collaborator, and archivist of his legacy), plus stills from a recently discovered 30-minute film of an early '70s dance performance featuring complete renditions of Dogon A.D. and Rites. Essential documentation.

Listed in The New York Times' 100 most essential jazz recordings. AllMusic: 5 stars. NPR called it "one of the startling jazz recordings of the 1970s, a rethinking of possibilities open to the avant-garde." This, at long last, is the definitive edition of this seminal masterwork. If you care about creative music – this is where it begins. Hold on to your hats.