Search - Arthur Blythe :: Focus

A life's work in beauty

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 01/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Arthur Blythe is one of the reasons I love the jazz tradition. He is always worth a listen. And every few years, he puts out something that it worth many a listening.
Part of what makes him interesting is his sense of orchestration. He seems to hear the tuba, the cello, the guitar as being his sound mates as much as the piano, the trumpet or the drums. This alone give his music a freshness to the ears. I remember one of his records (that needs to be reissued) where Blythe alternated between two groups- one a traditional quartet, one with his more adventurous instrumentation. And really what makes Blythe adventurous is more his occassional composition and this sense of orchestration. He is not avant garde in terms of the way he structures his soli. He fits in rather well into the postbop continuum. If you like Wayne Shorter, Jackie Mclean, etc. you should like Arthur Blythe.
Another part of what make Blythe so wonderful on the ears is the strength of his sound. I am sure others have remarked on it, I did in a review of Blythe's great early work collected on the CD In Concert. To me, his tone has a brassiness that is all his own.
This CD finds Blythe in the company of Bob Stewart on the tuba, Gust William Tsilis on the concert grand marimba and Cecil Brooks III on the drums. This is a wonderful combination of sounds and Blythe makes full use of it. He gives us duos (alto and marimba, alto and tuba) as well as soli and the group as a whole.
The only reason I did not give this a higher rating is in light of the standard set by his own great body of work. Of the albums available on Amazon.com, I would recommend Illusions the highest for someone curious about Blythe. If you tend toward the avant-garde side of things, you can go from there to the In Concert CD. If you like more mainstream (and I use that term without disparagement) jazz then give this CD a try. Also consider going to the site of Cadence magazine to pick up Today's Blues, a beautifully recorded series of duets between Blythe and cellist David Eyges."