Arthur Murray Blythe was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a fast, wide vibrato and an aggressive, precise manner of phrasing" and furthermore as straddling the avant garde and traditionalist jazz, often with bands featuring unusual instrumentation.
Biography
Born in Los Angeles, Blythe lived in San Diego, 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. In the mid-1960s, Blythe was part of The Underground Musicians and Artists Association, founded by Horace Tapscott, on whose 1969 The Giant Is Awakened he made his recording debut. After moving to New York in the mid-70s, Blythe worked as a security guard before being offered a place as sideman for Chico Hamilton. He subsequently played with Gil Evans' Orchestra, Lester Bowie, Jack DeJohnette and McCoy Tyner. Blythe's group – John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall – played Carnegie Hall and the Village Vanguard in 1979. In 1977, Blythe appeared on the LP Rhythmatism, a recording led by drummer Steve Reid. Reviewing in , Robert Christgau highlighted Blythe's "forceful" alto-saxophone playing and said, "like so many of the new players Blythe isn't limited to modern methods by his modernism—he favors fluent, straight-ahead Coltranemodalities, but also demonstrates why he belongs on a tune for Cannonball." Blythe began to record as a leader in 1977 for the India Navigation label and then for Columbia records from 1978 to 1987. Bob Stewart's tuba was a regular feature of these albums, often taking the place of the more traditional string bass. Albums such as The Grip and Metamorphosis offered capable, highly refined jazz fare with a free angle which seemed "out there". 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 joined the World Saxophone Quartet after the departure of Julius Hemphill. Beginning in 2000 he made recordings on Savant Records which included Exhale with John Hicks, Bob Stewart, and Cecil Brooks III. Blythe died from complications of Parkinson's disease in Lancaster, California, at the age of 76.
