Arthur Rhames

Infobox musical artist
Name = Arthur Rhames


Img_capt = Arthur Rhames with Eternity at the Prospect Park Band Shell c. 1978

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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Arthur Rhames
Alias = The Brooklyn Flash
Born = October 25, 1957
Died = December 27, 1989 (aged 32)
Origin = flagicon|USA Brooklyn, New York USA
Instrument = Piano, Guitar, Tenor Saxophone
Voice_type =
Genre = Free Jazz, Rock, R&B
Occupation = Musican, Composer
Years_active = 1977 – 1989
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Associated_acts = Eternity(band), Arthur Rhames Trio, Rashied Ali
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Current_members =
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Notable_instruments =

Arthur Rhames (October 25, 1957 – December 27, 1989) was a guitarist, tenor saxophonist, pianist and melodica stylist, Krishna devotee, and a legend of New York City avant-garde jazz.

Despite his much-admired technical virtuosity and unmatched dedication - he was notorious among local musicians for daily practice sessions frequently lasting up to 18 hours [http://music.msn.com/music/album-review/arthur-rhames/live-from-soundscape Live From Soundscape review at MSN Music] ] - the Bedford Stuyvesant-born multi-instrumentalist was unable to score a recording contract before succumbing to AIDS-related illness at the age of 32. [http://music.msn.com/music/album-review/arthur-rhames/live-from-soundscape Live From Soundscape review at MSN Music] ]

He began his career on the electric guitar in funk/R&B acts like the Rev. Steve Arrington's Slave in the early Seventies. [http://www.stevearringtonministries.com/?subpages/bio.shtml] In 1978, Rhames joined a trio, Eternity, with bassist Cleve Alleyne and drummer Adrian Grannum (later replaced by percussionist Collin Young). He played numerous gigs in the tri-state area as Eternity's guitarist, including annual shows on the Prospect Park soundstage and at several local colleges. While the Mahavishnu Orchestra-inspired power trio remained unsigned, word-of-mouth buzz surrounding the band began to spread, ultimately culminating in a series of dates opening for Larry Coryell's fusion ensemble Eleventh House. [ [http://www.arthurrhames.net/tributes.html Interview with Cleve Alleyne and Charles Tellerant] ]

Unfortunately, although these performances won Rhames a great deal of audience acclaim, and even his own Guitar World profile, backstage tensions between Arthur and the concerts' headliner emerged: Coryell refused to acknowledge him as a guitarist, referring to Rhames only as "the piano player." After five or six shows, they left the tour. [ [http://arthurrhames.net/videos.html Videos at ArthurRhames.net] ] Nevertheless, Arthur made a cameo appearance as a session player on Coryell's 1975 solo album, ironically titled Differences. [ [http://sudo.3.pro.tok2.com/Quest/cards/A/ArthurRhames/index.html Larry Coryell "Differences" credit] ]

Regardless of the opinions held by some who found him difficult and arrogant (Rhames was considered infamous for his tardiness, in addition to his tendency to respond 'I'm Arthur Rhames!' whenever directly challenged about anything), he exhibited a spiritual side as well. In his Eternity period, or slightly before, he became aware of Swami Prabhupada's expositions of Vaishnava philosophy and the Bhagavad Gita, strongly influencing his worldview. He worshiped at the Hare Krishna Temple on Henry Street in Brooklyn, sometimes with his entire band, and wrote songs (with his bandmates) which reflected Eastern sensibilities in their titles and content, like "Anu Dance." [http://www.arthurrhames.net/stories.html Stories at ArthurRhames.net] ]

After Eternity dissolved around 1980, and a long stretch busking as a street musician in and around Manhattan on sax with keyboardist and drummer Charles Telerant, he often collaborated with saxophonist and Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali, eventually incorporating as The Dynamic Duo. They appeared at the 1981 Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In October of the same year, recordings of his former trio, including pianist John Esposito and drummer Jeff Siegel, were made at a New York club session, featuring impressive interpretations of Coltrane classics "Giant Steps," "Moment's Notice" and "Bessie's Blues," as well as a cover of Albert Ayler's "I Want Jesus To Talk To Me." They were later released on the Japanese DIW label (Live From The Soundscape). Arthur was only 24 years old. In 1988, he re-joined Rashied Ali in a quartet at New York's Knitting Factory.cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D91E30F935A35752C0A96E948260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FM%2FMusic|title= Jazz: Rashied Ali Quartet|last=PARELES|first=JON|date=1988-01-06|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-09-23]

According to a 1990 interview with Vernon Reid, prior to his death, Rhames was working as a security guard in complete obscurity. However, on the official Arthur Rhames website, former Rhames sideman Charles Telerant states that late in his life, he toured in support of P-Funk's George Clinton as a guitarist, after having shown up to audition in his security uniform. [http://www.arthurrhames.net/stories.html Stories at ArthurRhames.net] ] Tragically, Telerant also relates the following anecdote:

Some years ago I was sitting in the office of Brian Bachhus who was vice president of A&R at Verve Records at the time. "Who have you played with?" he asked. "A guy from Brooklyn named Arthur Rhames" I replied. "Arthur Rhames?! " he practically screamed. "You played with "Arthur Rhames"? Where can I find him? I'll sign him right now!" "You can't Brian", I replied. "Arthur died three weeks ago." [http://www.arthurrhames.net/stories.html Stories at ArthurRhames.net] ]

Quotes About Arthur Rhames

* "I've never heard a better guitar player...he was frightening" - Vernon Reid (Living Colour, Masque) [cite book
title=Secrets from the Masters: Conversations with Forty Great Guitar Players
last=Menn
first=Don
year=1992
publisher=Backbeat Books
pages= p. 196
isbn= 0879302607 ]

* "Arthur Rhames was one of the greatest musicians God ever put on this Earth" - Rashied Ali (Rashied Ali Quartet, John Coltrane)
* "You couldn't be a musician in Brooklyn and not be influenced by Arthur" - John Purvis (The ReAwakening) [http://www.arthurrhames.net/stories.html Stories at ArthurRhames.net] ]
* "Rhames was the greatest musical mind of the last forty years" - Cleve Alleyne (Eternity) [ttp://www.arthurrhames.net/tributes.html]
* "He was overwhelming. I've never seen the guitar played that way."" - Bill Frisell [http://www.arthurrhames.net/stories.html Stories at ArthurRhames.net] ]

* "He played with so much intensity, you thought he was gonna keel over with a heart attack!" -Vernon Reid

Quote By Arthur Rhames On Improvisation

"Improvisation is an intuitive process for me now, but in the way in which it's intuitive, I'm calling upon all the resources of all the years of my playing at once: my academic understanding of the music, my historical understanding of the music, and my technical understanding of the instrument that I'm playing. All these things are going into one concentrated effort to produce something that is indicative of what I'm feeling at the time I'm performing. " - Arthur Rhames [cite book
title=Theology, Music and Time
last=Begbie
first=Jeremy
year=2003
publisher=Cambridge University Press
pages= p. 201
isbn=0521785685 ]

Articles

* Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD", 6th Edition, London, Penguin, 2002 ISBN 0-14-017949-6.

elect Discography

* " (1981; Ayler Records)
* " (1981; DIW)

* " (1994; Rhino Records)

* " (2003; Rhino Records)

References

External links

* [http://www.arthurrhames.net Official Arthur Rhames site]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV0_XQF058E Cleve Alleyne of Eternity and Charles Telerant recall Arthur Rhames (in six parts)]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKfqhHZprws Video clip of Eternity with Arthur Rhames on guitar (1 of 2)]

* [http://http://www.stevearringtonministries.com/?subpages/bio.shtml Short bio of funk act Slave, with photo of young Arthur Rhames]

* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14915 All About Jazz review of Remember Trane and Bird]

* [http://music.msn.com/music/artist/arthur-rhames/ MSN Music review of Live From Soundscape]