Arthur Blythe

Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe in 1989 at the North Sea Jazz Festival with The Leaders.
Background information
Born	May 7, 1940 (1940-05-07)
Origin	Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres	Jazz, Post-bop
Occupations	Musician Bandleader Composer
Instruments	Alto saxophone
Years active	1969–present
Labels	Columbia, Enja, Savant Records
Website	Official site

Arthur Blythe (born May 7, 1940, in Los Angeles, California) 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.

Biography

Blythe lived in San Diego, California, 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. He studied with David Jackson and Jimmie Lunceford, and Kirtland (Kirk) Bradford. In the mid-60's he was part of The Underground Musicians and Artists Association (UGMAA), west coast counterpart to Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) 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 (75-77). He subsequently played with Gil Evans Orchestra (76-78), Lester Bowie (‘78), Jack DeJohnette (‘79) and McCoy Tyner (‘79). 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	Genre	Label	Billboard
1977	The Grip	Jazz	India Navigation
1977	Metamorphosis	Jazz	India Navigation
1977	Bush Baby	Jazz	Adelphi
1978	In the Tradition	Jazz	Columbia	#22
1978	Lenox Avenue Breakdown	Jazz	Columbia	#35
1980	Illusions	Jazz	Columbia	#32
1981	Blythe Spirit	Jazz	Columbia	#24
1982	Elaborations	Jazz	Columbia	#33
1983	Light Blue: Arthur Blythe Plays Thelonious Monk	Jazz	Columbia
1984	Put Sunshine in It	Jazz	Columbia
1986	Da-Da	Jazz	Columbia
1987	Basic Blythe	Jazz	Columbia
1996	Calling Card	Jazz	Enja
1996	Synergy	Jazz	In + Out
1991	Hipmotism	Jazz	Enja
1997	Today's Blues	Jazz	CIMP
1997	Night Song	Jazz	Clarity
2000	Spirits in the Field	Jazz	Savant
2001	Blythe Byte	Jazz	Savant
2002	Focus	Jazz	Savant
2003	Exhale	Jazz	Savant

As sideman

With Lester Bowie

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

'With David Murray and Sythesis (RA Records, 1979, recorded in 1976)

With Jack DeJohnette

• Special Edition‎ (ECM, 1979)

With Julius Hemphill

• Coon Bid'ness‎ (Freedom, 1972)

With The Leaders

• Mudfoot (Black Hawk, 1986)
• Out Here Like This (Black Saint, 1987)
• Unforeseen Blessings (Black Saint, 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)

External links

• All About Jazz: A Fireside Chat With Arthur Blythe
• Arthur Blythe Biography