Biography
In the closing years of the 1970s and the opening years of the 1980s, the jazz avant-garde appeared poised for mainstream acceptance through the singular voice of Arthur Blythe. Columbia Records placed the saxophonist under contract, and its aggressive marketing campaign nearly transformed him into a household name. The campaign failed because Blythe remained too unconventional for broad audiences. The label concluded that its expectations of the public had been unrealistic and redirected its promotional resources toward a more adaptable young figure, Wynton Marsalis. History then took its familiar course.
Blythe spent his childhood in San Diego, where he joined school ensembles at nine and later studied with Kirtland Bradford, a onetime saxophonist in Jimmie Lunceford’s section. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1960, he began performing with pianist and bandleader Horace Tapscott. The following year the two helped establish the Union of God’s Musicians and Artist’s Ascension. Blythe appeared on a 1969 Tapscott-led session and continued regular work with the pianist through 1974.
Once in New York, he served as a sideman with Chico Hamilton from 1974 to 1977 and with Gil Evans from 1976 to 1980. His debut recordings as a leader arrived in 1977 on the India Navigation imprint when he was already thirty-seven: The Grip and Metamorphosis. By that point Blythe had matured into a fully formed artist whose free-jazz orientation coexisted with a deeply personal approach to earlier idioms. When he interpreted a standard, the performance reflected every subsequent development in jazz, including the free techniques central to his language, evoking predecessors through genuine recollection rather than imitation.
The contexts surrounding his playing changed more readily than the style itself. Bush Baby, also from 1977, placed him in an unconventional trio completed by tubaist Bob Stewart and conguero Muhammed Abdullah. While under contract to Columbia he maintained two distinct ensembles. One, often called the electric band, blended free funk with Stewart, cellist Abdul Wadud, drummer Bobby Battle, and electric guitarists James “Blood” Ulmer and Kelvyn Bell at various times. The other was an acoustic quartet whose name derived from its first Columbia album, 1979’s In the Tradition, featuring bassist Fred Hopkins, drummer Steve McCall, and pianist Stanley Cowell. That release drew widespread critical and popular notice; viewed retrospectively, it anticipated the hard-bop resurgence that would dominate major-label jazz throughout the 1980s and into the late 1990s, ultimately pushing progressive players such as Blythe toward the periphery.
Several Columbia albums followed, some stronger than others. Lennox Avenue Breakdown and Illusions ranked among the more compelling; Put Sunshine in It, issued in 1984, represented a misguided attempt to reach the expanding fusion audience. Basic Blythe, released in 1987, returned to the acoustic quartet format yet added an intrusive string section; it proved to be his final Columbia effort.
Activity slowed in the late 1980s and 1990s. Blythe and David Murray formed the saxophone section on Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, one of the decade’s most acclaimed recordings. He also participated in the Leaders, alongside Lester Bowie, Chico Freeman, Don Moye, Kirk Lightsey, and Cecil McBee, which produced two well-received albums for Black Hawk and Black Saint. In 1990 he briefly replaced Julius Hemphill in the World Saxophone Quartet. For Enja he recorded Hipmotism in 1991, revisiting the electric-band concept, and the acoustic Retroflection in 1993. In 2002 he assembled marimba player William Tsillis, tubaist Bob Stewart, and drummer Cecil Brooks III for Focus on Savant; Exhale appeared on the same label the following year, adding pianist John Hicks to the same rhythm section.
Blythe died in Lancaster, California, in March 2017 at the age of seventy-six. He commanded one of the most immediately identifiable alto saxophone timbres in jazz—large, rounded, animated by a rapid, expansive vibrato and an incisive, exacting attack. His phrases often unfolded with baroque elaboration yet remained sharply contoured; although some listeners found them excessively decorative, his improvisations consistently displayed distinctive character and originality.
Blythe spent his childhood in San Diego, where he joined school ensembles at nine and later studied with Kirtland Bradford, a onetime saxophonist in Jimmie Lunceford’s section. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1960, he began performing with pianist and bandleader Horace Tapscott. The following year the two helped establish the Union of God’s Musicians and Artist’s Ascension. Blythe appeared on a 1969 Tapscott-led session and continued regular work with the pianist through 1974.
Once in New York, he served as a sideman with Chico Hamilton from 1974 to 1977 and with Gil Evans from 1976 to 1980. His debut recordings as a leader arrived in 1977 on the India Navigation imprint when he was already thirty-seven: The Grip and Metamorphosis. By that point Blythe had matured into a fully formed artist whose free-jazz orientation coexisted with a deeply personal approach to earlier idioms. When he interpreted a standard, the performance reflected every subsequent development in jazz, including the free techniques central to his language, evoking predecessors through genuine recollection rather than imitation.
The contexts surrounding his playing changed more readily than the style itself. Bush Baby, also from 1977, placed him in an unconventional trio completed by tubaist Bob Stewart and conguero Muhammed Abdullah. While under contract to Columbia he maintained two distinct ensembles. One, often called the electric band, blended free funk with Stewart, cellist Abdul Wadud, drummer Bobby Battle, and electric guitarists James “Blood” Ulmer and Kelvyn Bell at various times. The other was an acoustic quartet whose name derived from its first Columbia album, 1979’s In the Tradition, featuring bassist Fred Hopkins, drummer Steve McCall, and pianist Stanley Cowell. That release drew widespread critical and popular notice; viewed retrospectively, it anticipated the hard-bop resurgence that would dominate major-label jazz throughout the 1980s and into the late 1990s, ultimately pushing progressive players such as Blythe toward the periphery.
Several Columbia albums followed, some stronger than others. Lennox Avenue Breakdown and Illusions ranked among the more compelling; Put Sunshine in It, issued in 1984, represented a misguided attempt to reach the expanding fusion audience. Basic Blythe, released in 1987, returned to the acoustic quartet format yet added an intrusive string section; it proved to be his final Columbia effort.
Activity slowed in the late 1980s and 1990s. Blythe and David Murray formed the saxophone section on Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, one of the decade’s most acclaimed recordings. He also participated in the Leaders, alongside Lester Bowie, Chico Freeman, Don Moye, Kirk Lightsey, and Cecil McBee, which produced two well-received albums for Black Hawk and Black Saint. In 1990 he briefly replaced Julius Hemphill in the World Saxophone Quartet. For Enja he recorded Hipmotism in 1991, revisiting the electric-band concept, and the acoustic Retroflection in 1993. In 2002 he assembled marimba player William Tsillis, tubaist Bob Stewart, and drummer Cecil Brooks III for Focus on Savant; Exhale appeared on the same label the following year, adding pianist John Hicks to the same rhythm section.
Blythe died in Lancaster, California, in March 2017 at the age of seventy-six. He commanded one of the most immediately identifiable alto saxophone timbres in jazz—large, rounded, animated by a rapid, expansive vibrato and an incisive, exacting attack. His phrases often unfolded with baroque elaboration yet remained sharply contoured; although some listeners found them excessively decorative, his improvisations consistently displayed distinctive character and originality.
Albums
