Arthur Blythe

Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe in 1989 at the North Sea Jazz Festival with The Leaders.
Background information
Born	May 7, 1940
Origin	Los Angeles
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician bandleader composer
Instruments	Alto saxophone
Years active	1969–present
Labels	Columbia, Enja, Savant Records
Website	arthurblythe.com

Arthur Blythe (born July 5, 1940, in Los Angeles)^[1] is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.^[1]

Biography

Blythe lived in San Diego, returning to Los Angeles when he was 19 years old. He took up the alto saxophone at the age of nine, playing R&B until his mid-teens when he discovered jazz.^[2] In the mid-1960s he was part of The Underground Musicians and Artists Association (UGMAA), founded by Horace Tapscott, on whose 1969 The Giant Is Awakened Blythe made his recording debut.

After moving to New York in the mid-70s, he worked as a security guard before being offered a place as sideman for Chico Hamilton^[2] (75–77). He subsequently played with Gil Evans Orchestra (76–78), Lester Bowie ('78), Jack DeJohnette ('79) and McCoy Tyner ('79).^[3] The Arthur Blythe band of 1979 – John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall – played Carnegie Hall and the Village Vanguard.

Blythe started to record as a leader in 1977 for the India Navigation label and then for Columbia records from 1978 to 1987. Albums such as The Grip and Metamorphosis (both on India Navigation) offered capable, highly refined jazz fare with a free angle that made Blythe too "out there" for the general public, but endeared him to the more serious jazz fans. Blythe played on many pivotal albums of the 1980s, among them Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition on ECM. Blythe was a member of the all-star jazz group The Leaders and, after the departure of Julius Hemphill, he joined the World Saxophone Quartet. Beginning in 2000 he made recordings on Savant Records which included Exhale (2003) with John Hicks (piano), Bob Stewart (tuba), and Cecil Brooks III (drums).

Discography

As leader

Year	Title	Label
1977	The Grip	India Navigation
1977	Metamorphosis	India Navigation
1977	Bush Baby	Adelphi
1978	In the Tradition	Columbia
1978	Lenox Avenue Breakdown	Columbia
1980	Illusions	Columbia
1981	Blythe Spirit	Columbia
1982	Elaborations	Columbia
1983	Light Blue: Arthur Blythe Plays Thelonious Monk	Columbia
1984	Put Sunshine in It	Columbia
1986	Da-Da	Columbia
1987	Basic Blythe	Columbia
1996	Calling Card	Enja
1996	Synergy	In + Out
1991	Hipmotism	Enja
1997	Today's Blues	CIMP
1997	Night Song	Clarity
2000	Spirits in the Field	Savant
2001	Blythe Byte	Savant
2002	Focus	Savant
2003	Exhale	Savant

Collaborations

With Synthesis

• Six by Six (Chiaroscuro, 1977), with Olu Dara, a.o.
• Segments (Ra, 1979), with Olu Dara, David Murray, a.o.

With The Leaders

• Mudfoot (Black Hawk, 1986)
• Out Here Like This (Black Saint, 1987)
• Unforeseen Blessings (Black Saint, 1988)
• Slipping and Sliding (Sound Hills, 1994)
• Spirits Alike (Double Moon, 2006)

With Roots

• Salutes the Saxophone – Tributes to John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and Lester Young (In & Out, 1992)
• Stablemates (In & Out, 1993)
• Say Something (In & Out, 1995)

With Santi Debriano and Billy Hart

• 3-Ology (Konnex, 1993)

With Jeff Palmer, John Abercrombie, Victor Lewis

• Ease On (Audio Quest, 1993)

With David Eyges and Bruce Ditmas

• Synergy (In & Out, 1997)

With John Abercrombie, Terri Lyne Carrington, Anthony Cox, Mark Feldman, Gust Tsilis

• Echoes (Alessa, 2005)

As sideman

With Joey Baron

• Down Home (Intuition, 1997) with Ron Carter and Bill Frisell
• We'll Soon Find Out (Intuition, 1999) with Ron Carter and Bill Frisell

With Lester Bowie

• The 5th Power (Black Saint, 1978)
• African Children (Horo, 1978)

With Jack DeJohnette

• Special Edition (ECM, 1979)

With Gil Evans

• Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (RCA, 1979)
• The Rest of Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (Mole Jazz, 1981)
• Parabola (Horo, 1979)
• Live at the Public Theater, Vol. 1 & 2 (Trio (Japan)/Storyville (Sweden), 1980)
• Priestess (Antilles, 1983)
• Sting and Gil Evans – Strange Fruit (ITM, 1993), three tracks with Blythe rec. 1976 without Sting

With John Fischer

• 6 × 1 = 10 Duos for a New Decade (Circle, 1980)

With Chico Freeman

• Luminous (Jazz House, 1989)
• Focus (Contemporary, 1995)

With Chico Hamilton

• Peregrinations (Blue Note, 1975)
• Chico Hamilton and the Players (Blue Note, 1976)

With Craig Harris

• Cold Sweat Plays J. B. (JMT, 1999)

With Julius Hemphill

• Coon Bid'ness (Freedom, 1972)

With Azar Lawrence

• Bridge into the New Age (Prestige, 1974)

With the Music Revelation Ensemble

• In the Name of... (DIW, 1994)
• Knights of Power (DIW, 1996)

With Woody Shaw

• The Iron Men with Anthony Braxton (Muse, 1977 [1980])

With Horace Tapscott

• The Giant is Awakened (Flying Dutchman, 1969)

With Gust William Tsilis & Alithea

• Pale Fire (Enja, 1988)

With McCoy Tyner

• Quartets 4 X 4 (Milestone, 1980)
• 44th Street Suite (Red Baron,1991)

With the World Saxophone Quartet

• Metamorphosis (Elektra Nonesuch, 1990)
• Breath of Life (Elektra Nonesuch, 1992)

References

1. Allmusic biography
2. Bob Young and Al Stankus (1992). Jazz Cooks. Stewart Tabori and Chang. pp. 14–15. ISBN 1-55670-192-6.
3. Arthur Blythe Biography

External links

• All About Jazz: A Fireside Chat With Arthur Blythe