Customer Reviews

Illusions

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you've heard about Arthur Blythe and want to check him out, this is THE album to get. I wouldn't call it avant garde, but it is very progressive. Blythe has a unique sound on the alto sax, very aggressive and hard. This also has some of the best playing ever by the late great guitarist Blood Ulmer. Lenox Avenue Breakdown is nice, but Illusions is Arthur Blythe's best. It's a classic album for any jazz fan.

Blythes playing has always been like honey and liquid gold flowing from his saxophone. Its so fluid and free. He has remained true to himself. He has always been at the forefront of the music. Of course I would like to hear a pianist with him a little more, but... He has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. Thats what makes is music so alive!

I consider this recording to be one of the must-haves for that period in jazz. To this day it sounds fresher than most current recordings. It crosses all boundries from James Blood Ulmer playing out against a screaming cello to John Hicks' swirling solo's. Throughout these alternating bands Blythe is fierce, funky, and powerful. Simply said; pound for pound its my favorite recording ever. Yes....ever!

The 6 compositions are divided between 2 bands - a standard piano-based quartet and a cello-guitar-tuba-drums band. And they're both great. The traditional line-up swings hard; the more unconventional band plays some heavy funk. And it's all good - really good.

I listened to this for the first time today and I am sorry for all the time I didn't know about it. This is some of the most astonishingly original-sounding, earth-shatteringly soulful music that ever *was*. Amazon doesn't seem to be stocking it at the moment -- but I recommend buying it if you ever get a second chance. DO NOT MISS!!

classic album, blythe ulmer, bob stewart on tuba, vveryyy goooddd album, if you have heard blythe or ulmer youll dig this, note, this is jazz in the sense of mingus or even sun ra, sum of blythes stuff is more like smooth jazzz, great music just to clean and produced, not the case here, and again bob stewart, google him, takes the tuba to a different level, and i love and play upright bass, his tuba has more depth, feelling, rumble, its intoxicating, and even better on the classic lenox avenue breakdown, i would have thought someone would have reviewed this album, and my words do not do it justice, if you like jazz, you cant ask for much more(in the 80s that is) than blythe, james blood ulmer, and bob stewart doing what they do.

My review is based upon the Koch Jazz reissue which is now out of print. This was a CD reissue of Arthur Blythe's third Columbia recording, Illusions (originally released on LP in 1980). On this outing, Blythe fronted two different ensembles: Tracks 1, 3, and 5 feature Blythe's alto sax accompanied by the guitar of James "Blood" Ulmer, the cello of Abdul Wadud, the tuba of Bob Stewart, and the drums of Bobby Battle; Tracks 2, 4, and 6 feature the accompaniment of Fred Hopkins on bass, Steve McCall on drums (Hopkins and McCall, along with Henry Threadgill, formed the jazz trio, Air), and Fred Hicks on piano. Both ensembles interact well together as they weave and spin their way through Blythe's original compositions, which are both entertaining and challenging, and which still sound fresh and striking nearly two decades since their first release, and the sound quality is really pretty decent if not quite audiophile-grade. If you are starting to get interested in jazz but have not yet encountered Arthur Blythe, I would suggest that you seek out this recording at your earliest convenience -- although it might not be very convenient, alas.