CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
ARTHUR BLYTHE: “Lenox Avenue Breakdown” (Columbia)::I prefer this to, say, Blythe’s more conventionally “free” Bush Baby (on Adelphi) because—thanks to Jack DeJohnette, Guillermo Franco, and the lilt of Blythe’s theme vamps—its passion for popular rhythms enables it to say something about them.
CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
DEPARTMENTS
by Robert Christgau
ARTHUR BLYTHE: “Lenox Avenue Breakdown” (Columbia)::I prefer this to, say, Blythe’s more conventionally “free” Bush Baby (on Adelphi) because—thanks to Jack DeJohnette, Guillermo Franco, and the lilt of Blythe’s theme vamps—its passion for popular rhythms enables it to say something about them. The sinuous Latin groove of “Down San Diego Way” wends through three of the four tracks. But while the California opener is unfailingly sunny, the groove runs into two-\X/ay traffic on the title tune and suffers further cross-comment on the bluesy “Slidin’ Through” before disappearing on “Odessa.” Just as Steely Dan’s lyrics (and chord changesr 1 suppose) work against the surface mellowness of the music, so the strength of the groove here is challenged and transformed by solo voices and alien rhythms without ever being defeated, much less exploited for its “accessibility.” And if we’re interested, all this conflict helps us understand why music like Bush Baby exists.
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