1979 Arthur Blythe Lenox Avenue Breakdown

While Arthur Blythe may not be a household name, the Mark Hess illustration may be.  Hess created a downtown feel of a brownstone for designer Gene Greif.  Originally the painting had people but they were taken out for fear of distraction of the rest of the piece.  Prominent in the center of the city is Arthur Blythe’s sax.  The typography appears like many signs in a city posted on a roof of a building.

Hess went on to do 2 other paintings much like this using clarinets in a city scape and a sax as a roadhouse.

For being an unknown to most of the world, Arthur Blythe, has appeared on over 50 albums and is still playing at the age of 68.

Mark Hess’ work can be seen on a variety of portraits and magazine covers.  I cannot find any other albums he has appeared on but hopefully someone will let me know if that is correct or not.

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