Dogon A.D.

I finally found a copy of Julius Hemphill's legendary Dogon A.D. First time through, and I believe the hype. After a little research, I found this interview with Tim Berne about Hemphill as a mentor. Berne gives this beautiful quote:

"When I get too caught up in all the business shit, I try to remember the most important thing is the music and not worry about all that other stuff. He was just a great role model in terms of creativity. In order to grow you have to fail. You have to have a bad concert, or write something that doesn't work, so you can find out why. I realized that that's why you make records. It's not so you can sell them. It's really just so you can develop. He really embodied that. That's why he did it—to express himself."

Of course, we all want these albums to sell, too, but I agree that failing can be just as valuable as succeeding, if not more so. I found Hemphill's masterpiece after a simple Google search. I recommend you do the same.