Sax weaves enchantment

Press, 23 September 1988, Page 29

Sax weaves enchantment

JAZZ

ARTHUR BLYTHE (alto saxophone) with JOHN HICKS (piano), ANTHONY COX (bass), BOBBY BATTLE (drums) and STRINGS “Baric Blythe” (Columbia Records, FC 40884). Someone, somewhere, likened the sound of the saxophone to “the insidious lowing of a love-lorn Jersey cow.” The saxophone weaves its own enchantment with a sound tinged with a foggy, slightly sinister quality. Arthur Blythe, ar-

guably the world’s finest alto saxophone player, demonstrates the instrument’s powers on a new recording, which in spite of the glossily commercial quality of some tracks, can still send that old sax magic tingling down th" spine. I question the use of what sounds suspiciously

like a vagrant string quartet out for a night on the town. The classical overtones do not mix well with the astringent quality of Blythe’s playing, curdling the brew with an excess of toffee-like sound. But once Blythe is let loose with “Faceless Woman” and “Ruby My Dear,” all musical hell breaks loose, dragging the listener out of his or her seat with the sheer power and energy of the Blythe sound. “Autumn In New York” is a contemporary jazz

song. Appropriately misty and autumnal, it oozes a melancholy and worldweariness with Blythe tenderly weaving his way through the music. The vagrant string quartet gets in the way, but after a few minutes, one can dispatch them to the nearest subway and concentrate on Mr Blythe and his saxophone ... two remarkable creatures in complete control of the music and the atmosphere. —Chris Moore