Arthur Blythe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
In the sixties he performed with the pianist/bandleader Horace Tapscott. After moving to New York in the mid-seventies, he performed with Chico Hamilton and Gil Evans. (Chris Kelsey, in allmusic.com.) Additionally, he made sideman appearances in the 1970s with McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Lester Bowie.
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 a wide jazz audience.
Blythe played on many pivotal albums of the 1980s, among them Jack DeJohnette's Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, on ECM.
After the departure of Julius Hemphill, he joined the World Saxophone Quartet. Beginning in 2000 he made recordings on the Savant label.
