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Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown

By Chris May
January 31, 2024
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One of the most egregiously underestimated albums in jazz history, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe's Lenox Avenue Breakdown was released on vinyl by Columbia in 1979 and on CD by Columbia (Japan) in 1995 and Koch Jazz in 1998. That's it bar a dodgy fourfer. Blythe fronts a septet completed by flautist James Newton, tubaist Bob Stewart, guitarist James Blood Ulmer, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Jack DeJohnette and percussionist Guillermo Franco. Producer is Bob Thiele. The title track has the most sui generis tuba solo ever recorded (until, perhaps, London's Theon Cross came along in the 2010s). The album is a stone delight from start to finish.

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Chris May is a senior editor of All About Jazz. He was previously the editor of the pioneering magazine Black Music & Jazz Review, and more recently editor of the style / culture / history magazine Jocks & Nerds.

About Arthur Blythe

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