Lenox Avenue Breakdown
You could easily call this reissue a lost treasure, as it came and went after its 1979 release, not even seeing much light after bandleader Arthur Blythe and his six colleagues reached critical acclaim and success. Blythe counts this loose session as a paean to Harlem, where the assemblage of sounds and rhythms along Lenox Avenue translates into an amalgam not unlike the mix ofJames "Blood" Ulmer's funk-painted guitar strum backed by the twin engines of drummerJack DeJohnetteand percussionist Guillermo Franco, each of whom makes a sky-crying racket. They do so, surely, in a fit of inspiration, sitting as they are behind a potent frontline: Blythe on alto sax;James Newtonon flute; and Bob Stewart on tuba. A tuba on the frontline? Well, in truth, these chaps are all playing the frontline, really. Newton's so revolutionary on the flute that hisRahsaan Roland Kirk-isms make for great rhythm, and his intricateEric Dolphy-isms cut sharp harmony. Blythe takes his notes seriously as little living things, but his art is in the web work and the melodies. Stewart plays the chameleon, doing tempo a while and then showing slippery riffs galore to the band. Very little in jazz--much less major-label jazz, which this was--around 1979 could match this recording. And now it's back.--Andrew Bartlett