2025.02.03 Eric Person on Arthur Blythe - 1 of 3

On our previous Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman and his guest, saxophonist Eric Person explored the work of the David Murray Octet of the 1980s.  Here was an ensemble that punched far above its weight, with swinging horn parts like a Thirties big band, as well eyeball-to-eyeball improvisation like a small ensemble.  They had the storytelling of a traditional group with the expansive harmonies and extended techniques that were being freshly discovered at the time.  It was a laboratory for the music's possible futures, and they grooved like hell.  

 

Could there have been another band at the time that fit this description?  As Eric Person's one-time employer, Ronald Shannon Jackson might have said, "Where there's one there's two."  This week Mitch and Eric explore the equally inventive bands of Arthur Blythe.  His eighties quintet didn't sound like any other band before or since.  It was as if he had exploded a standard hard bop ensemble and rebuilt it with a new kit of parts.  

 

And do you know who that band's original guitarist was?  And have you ever heard live recordings of that band with him in it?  We don't think you have!  Tune in and you will.  

 

This Monday (2/3) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us next week when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

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