Arthur Blythe - Blythe Byte (2001)

Alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe remains a reassuring exemplar of the rooted revolutionary. To be sure, he is less intent on pushing the musical envelope these days, but his aggressive tone and harmonic approach won't let the listener take him for granted. Working here in (and out of) a quartet setting, Blythe dances deftly between what we know and what he wants to show us. His primary collaborator on Blythe Byte is John Hicks, whose support on three duet outings is sympathetic and assured. Bassist Dwayne Dolphin and drummer Cecil Brooks III complete the ensemble. From the opening track, his own "Hardly," Blythe serves up his distinctive sound, redolent of R&B and the lingering spice of sophisticated harmony. Three Monk tunes add their own character to the mix. Hicks puts an elegant spin on "Blue Monk" (a quartet take) and "Light Blue," and gives "Ruby, My Dear" a similarly understated frame; this gives Blythe all the support he needs, as he focuses on melody throughout, working around the obvious rhythmic temptations. The title track is truly a gem, a 39-second unaccompanied rhapsody that is worth the price of admission. ~ Bill Bennett, JazzTimes.com. 

Savant Records, SCD 2036, 2001
Recorded 17th March, 2001 at Tedesco Recording Studios, Paramus, New Jersey 

Musicians:
Arthur Blythe - Alto Saxophone
John Hicks - Piano (#1-8,10)
Dwayne Dolphin - Bass (#1-3,5-7)
Cecil Brooks III - Drums (#1-3,5-7) 

Tracks:
01. Hardly {Arthur Blythe} (7:29)
02. Besamé Mucho {Sunny Skylar, Consuelo Velázquez} (5:47)
03. Blue Monk {Thelonious Monk} (6:09)
04. Light Blue {Arthur Blythe} (5:02)
05. And One {Dwayne Dolphin} (6:23)
06. My Little Brown Book {Billy Strayhorn} (6:15)
07. Naima {John Coltrane} (6:11)
08. Ruby My Dear {Thelonious Monk} (6:00)
09. Blythe Byte {Arthur Blythe} (0:43)
10. What A Friend We Have In Jesus {Charles C. Converse, Joseph Scriven} (4:29) 

Total Time: 54:33 

Credits:
Producer - Cecil Brooks III
Associate Producer - Arthur Blythe
Executive-Producer - Joe Fields
Engineer - David Baker
Engineer [Assistant] - Tom Tedesco
Mastering - John Arthur Lee
Design - Keiji Obata
Photography - Alan Nahigian 

Naima

Arthur Blythe - Retroflection (1994)

Arthur Blythe, whose alto tone has been quite original ever since the start of his career, is joined by pianist John Hicks, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Bobby Battle on this superior quartet date from Enja. Blythe really stretches out on this "Live at the Village Vanguard" set, with six of the seven songs being over nine minutes long. "Jana's Delight" (which is based on a five-note pattern), "JB Blues," a remake of Blythe's "Lenox Avenue Breakdown," and one of the best versions ever of Thelonious Monk's "Light Blue" are the high points of the explorative program. Arthur Blythe fans are strongly advised to pick up this particularly strong effort. ~ by Scott Yanow, AMG.

Enja Records, ENJ-8046 2, 1994

Digitally Recorded 25^th & 26^th June, 1993 Live > Two-Track at The Village Vanguard, NY

Musicians:

Arthur Blythe - Alto Saxophone

John Hicks - Piano

Cecil McBee - Bass

Bobby Battle - Drums

Tracks:

1. Jana's Delight {Don Pullen} (9:17)

2. JB Blues {Arthur Blythe} (9:31)

3. Peacemaker {Cecil McBee} (5:55)

4. Light Blue {Thelonious Monk} (11:51)

5. Lenox Avenue Breakdown {Arthur Blythe} (11:12)

6. Faceless Woman {Arthur Blythe} (11:33)

7. Break Tune {Arthur Blythe} (9:21)

Credits:

Producer - Matthias Winckelmann

Recording Engineer - David Baker

Recording Engineer Assistant - K. Naito

Design [Cover] - Elisabeth Winckelmann

Photography - Gene Martin

Typography - Jürgen Hübner

Liner Notes - T. Brooks Shepard

Roots Salutes the Saxophone

Our good buddy Bluebird is back with another lovely goodie from Nathan Davis' Roots project. This time Nathans' front line teammates are Sam Rivers, Arthur Blythe and Chico Freeman! WHEW!!

While the tunes are all mainstream, this particular ensemble plays much closer to the 'edge', for lack of a better term. That shouldn't be particularly surprising, given that the participants all have pretty fair free jazz backgrounds. This was actually the first Roots ensemble recorded live in 1991. It is a riveting and fun ride start to finish!

"Recorded at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival, where this outstanding all-star saxophone repertory band made its début in 1991, this album features ROOTS celebrating some of the great saxophonists in jazz with memorable versions of the great compositions with which they are associated.
"What ROOTS celebrates so enjoyably... is the sheer vitality, adaptability and diversity of the jazz tradition itself, providing as it does an ever-expanding body of work to be interpreted anew by each succeeding generation of musicians."

(Chris Parker, Jazz Correspondent , Daily Telegraph Weekend)

Roots - Saying Something

Every now and again, one of our friends here will send me a share that gets buried in my inbox and forgotten but they always resurface once I get around to going thru emails. Obviously I am inferring that this is one of those; bluebird sent this nearly a month ago and I am just now getting around to it.

Roots is a saxophone ensemble that toured Europe each summer or much of the 90's. The band was lead by Nathan Davis and always featured at least 3 other killer saxophonist and a first class rhythm section. Each tour the band would focus on 2 or 3 sax masters and songs associated with them. Here the focus' are Wayne Shorter, Lester Young and John Coltrane and Dr. Davis is joined by Arthur Blythe, Benny Golson and Chico Freeman on the front line. The rhythm section is merely Kirk Lightsey, Buster Williams and Ed Thigpen.

The powerful 7 song live program is full of great moments and lovely songs; all done with plenty of room for folks to stretch out - now that bluebird has reminded me of them, perhaps some other recordings of this great band will be forthcoming.