"Arthur Murray Blythe (July 5, 1940 - March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a fast, wide vibrato and an aggressive, precise manner of phrasing" and furthermore as straddling the avant garde and traditionalist jazz, often with bands featuring unusual instrumentation.

Born in Los Angeles, Blythe lived in San Diego, returning to Los Angeles when he was 19 years old. He took up the alto saxophone at the age of nine, playing R&B until his mid-teens when he discovered jazz. In the mid-1960s, Blythe was part of the Underground Musicians and Artists Association (UGMAA), founded by Horace Tapscott, on whose 1969 The Giant Is Awakened he made his recording debut.

After moving to New York in the mid-1970s, Blythe worked as a security guard before being offered a place as sideman for Chico Hamilton (1975-77). He subsequently played with Gil Evans' Orchestra (1976-78), Lester Bowie (1978), Jack DeJohnette (1979) and McCoy Tyner (also 1979). Blythe's group - John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall - played Carnegie Hall and the Village Vanguard in 1979.

In 1977, Blythe appeared on the LP Rhythmatism, a recording led by drummer Steve Reid. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau highlighted Blythe's "forceful" alto-saxophone playing and said, "like so many of the new players Blythe isn't limited to modern methods by his modernism-he favors fluent, straight-ahead Coltrane modalities, but also demonstrates why he belongs on a tune for Cannonball."

Blythe began to record as a leader in 1977 for the India Navigation label and then for Columbia Records from 1978 to 1987. Bob Stewart's tuba was a regular feature of these albums, often taking the place of the more traditional string bass. Albums such as The Grip and Metamorphosis (both on the label) demonstrated Blythe's maturity as well as his ability to play in both free and traditional contexts with a fully-developed personal style. Blythe played on many pivotal albums of the 1980s, among them Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition on ECM. Blythe was a member of the all-star jazz group The Leaders and joined the World Saxophone Quartet after the departure of Julius Hemphill. Beginning in 2000 he made recordings on Savant Records which included Exhale (2003) with John Hicks (piano), Bob Stewart (tuba), and Cecil Brooks III (drums).

Blythe died from complications of Parkinson's disease in Lancaster, California, at the age of 76."

"Arthur Edward Booth Jr. (February 12, 1948 - July 11, 2021) was an American jazz bassist. His professional name was Juini Booth, though his nickname has been spelled Jiunie, Junie, Joony, Jooney, Joonie, Juni, Juney, and Junius, over the course of his career.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Booth began playing piano at about age eight and switched to cello and then bass at 12. His nickname originated from his older sister's inability to pronounce "Junior" as a child. Both of Booth's parents died in 1961 when he was 13 years old. While at East High School, Booth was a member of string class and played bass in bands. Later he played in the orchestra at Lafayette High School.

He worked with Chuck Mangione in his hometown in 1964-65 before moving to New York City around 1966, where he played with Eddie Harris, Art Blakey (1967), Sonny Simmons (1967-68), Marzette Watts (1966, 1968), Freddie Hubbard (1968-71), and Gary Bartz (1970). He played with Shelly Manne in Hollywood in 1969.

In the early 1970s Booth played with Tony Williams's Lifetime (1971-73) and McCoy Tyner (1973-76), also recording during this time with Larry Young (1973), Takehiro Honda, and Masabumi Kikuchi, the last two during a tour of Tokyo in 1974. After a short period with Hamiett Bluiett in 1976 he returned to Buffalo, though he also worked with Chico Freeman in Los Angeles and Junior Cook in New York in 1977. In 1977-78 he played with Elvin Jones and Charles Tolliver.

From 1980 to 1982 he played with Ernie Krivda in Cleveland, as well as locally in Buffalo. He recorded freelance with Beaver Harris (1983), Steve Grossman and Joe Chambers (1984), Franklin Kiermyer, and others.

Juini Booth began working with Sun Ra starting in 1967 and was one of the Arkestra's longest serving members.

After spending a number of weeks in declining health, Booth died on July 11, 2021, aged 73, in Buffalo."

Muhammad Abdullah aka Ahkmed Abdullah is a jazz percussionist, know for their work with Tom Harrell, Tatsuya Nakamura, Ryo Kawasaki, Steve Reid, and Arthur Blythe.

"Drummer/percussionist Steve Reid has been journeying through the inner and outer reaches of the rhythmic universe for an unbelievable five decades.

He has held down Motown backbeats for Martha & The Vandellas and Marvin Gaye, dropped sessions for James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, delved into his roots alongside Fela Kuti, Guy Warren and the Sierra Leone All-Stars, and roamed the peripheries of the avant-garde with Sun Ra, Charlie Tyler and Albert Ayler. In short, there's not much he hasn't done.

Born and raised in NYC (the Bronx, then Queens) Reid got his first break at seventeen when he began working with Martha & The Vandellas, first on tour, then in the studio on hits like 'Heatwave' and 'Dancing In The Street'.

His unique style - left-handed and leftfield - earned him a rep in a city that attracted hordes of drummers but spawned very few, and Reid picked up prestigious gigs such as working with the Apollo Theatre house band, under the direction of Quincy Jones.

Responding to the spirit of black activism running through America at that time, Reid left New York and took on a spiritual pilgrimage through Africa. For three years he journeyed through Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal, meeting and playing with people along the way, including Fela Kuti, Guy Warren and Randy Weston.

On his return to New York Reid began doing session work, passing through the most famous studios of the day - James Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. But Africa had given him a passion for spirituality and he became increasingly attracted to the freeform creativity of the avant-garde scene, recording and playing with Sun Ra, Charles Tyler, Ornette Coleman and Arthur Blythe.

When Uncle Sam came looking for troops in Vietnam, Reid refused to fight on principle and was sentenced to four years in prison, where he taught Black history and music courses to his fellow inmates. Upon release he resumed his explorations of free jazz as vigorously as ever, this time on a more independent level.

Teaming up with an old school friend, Joe Rigby, he founded the Legendary Master Brotherhood and formed his own record company, Mustevic Sound, which released seminal albums such as Nova, Rhythmatism and Raw.

Throughout the 80s and 90s, Reid served as Co-director of Musicians of Brooklyn Initiative (MOBI) and as musical director for the dance troupe Sounds in Motion, before moving to Europe and forming various ensembles of his own.

In 2003, the cyclic rhythm that plays to human tastes and fashions came around full circle as UK label Soul Jazz tracked Reid down to re-issue his Rhythmatism album, creating in the process a brand new audience for his work. The label also released, Spirit Walk, a new album recorded by Reid's current group, which featured a host of new musicians, some of them electronic.

This project sparked an alliance between the ever-questing Reid and laptop luminary Keiran Hebden (Four Tet), a pairing which has so far resulted in two albums of improvised percussion and electronic sounds (The Exchange Sessions 1 & 2, Domino).

Five decades on, Reid continues to reach for that higher ground..."