| Hamiet Bluiett | |
| Background: | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth Date: | 16 September 1940 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Instrument: | Saxophone |
| Years Active: | 1961–2018 |
| Label: | India Navigation, Musica, Black Saint, Mapleshade, Knitting Factory, Moers, Justin Time |
| Associated Acts: | World Saxophone Quartet, D.D. Jackson, Kahil El'Zabar |
Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018)[1] was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A member of the World Saxophone Quartet, he also played (and recorded with) the bass saxophone, E-flat alto clarinet, E-flat contra-alto clarinet, and wooden flute.[2]
Bluiett was born just north of East St. Louis in Brooklyn, Illinois (also known as Lovejoy),[3] a predominantly African-American village that had been founded as a free black refuge community in the 1830s, and which later became America's first majority-black town. As a child, he studied piano, trumpet, and clarinet, but was attracted most strongly to the baritone saxophone from the age of ten. He began his musical career by playing the clarinet for barrelhouse dances in Brooklyn, Illinois, before joining the Navy band in 1961.[3] He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale.[3]
In his mid-twenties, Bluiett heard Harry Carney (the baritone player in the Duke Ellington band) play in a live concert in Boston, which also made a strong impression on the young Bluiett, providing an example of a baritone saxophonist who played as soloist rather than accompanist.
Following his time in the Navy, he returned to the St. Louis area in the mid-1960s.[3] In the late 1960s Bluiett co-founded the Black Artists' Group (BAG) of St. Louis, Missouri,[3] a collective dedicated to fostering creative work in theater, visual arts, dance, poetry, film, and music. He led the BAG big band during 1968 and 1969.
In late 1969, Bluiett moved to New York City, where he joined the Charles Mingus Quintet and the Sam Rivers large ensemble.[3] In late 1972, Bluiett joined Charles Mingus and toured Europe with him. In January 1974, Bluiett returned to Mingus and played in a quintet alongside George Adams, appearing on Mingus at Carnegie Hall. He continued to play with Mingus until Autumn 1974, when he left to make his own recordings as a leader.
In 1976 he co-founded the World Saxophone Quartet,[3] along with two other Black Artists' Group members, Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake, as well as multi-reedist David Murray.
He has remained a champion of the somewhat unwieldy baritone saxophone, organizing large groups of baritone saxophones. In the 1980s, he also founded the Clarinet Family,[3] a group of eight clarinetists playing clarinets of various sizes ranging from E-flat soprano to contrabass. Since the 1990s Bluiett led a quartet, the Bluiett Baritone Nation, made up entirely of baritone saxophones, with drum set accompaniment.
Bluiett also worked with Babatunde Olatunji, Abdullah Ibrahim, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.
He returned to his hometown of Brooklyn, Illinois, in 2002 but moved back to New York City in 2012. In his final years, he performed at gigs, including the New Haven Jazz Festival on August 22, 2009. He performed with students from Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Connecticut. The group were known as Hamiet Bluiett and the Improvisational Youth Orchestra. He died in St. Louis, Missouri on October 4, 2018, after a period of declining health.[4]
With the World Saxophone Quartet
| Title | Year | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point of No Return | 1977 | Moers | |||
| Steppin' with the World Saxophone Quartet | 1979 | Black Saint | |||
| W.S.Q. | 1981 | Black Saint | |||
| Revue | 1982 | Black Saint | |||
| Live in Zurich | 1984 | Black Saint | |||
| Live at Brooklyn Academy of Music | 1986 | Black Saint | |||
| Plays Duke Ellington | 1986 | Elektra / Nonesuch | |||
| Dances and Ballads | 1987 | Elektra / Nonesuch | |||
| Rhythm and Blues | 1989 | Elektra / Nonesuch | |||
| Metamorphosis | 1991 | Elektra / Nonesuch | |||
| Moving Right Along | 1993 | Black Saint | |||
| Breath of Life | 1994 | Elektra / Nonesuch | |||
| Four Now | 1996 | Justin Time | |||
| Takin' It 2 the Next Level | 1996 | Justin Time | |||
| 1998 | Justin Time | ||||
| Requiem for Julius | 2000 | Justin Time | |||
| 2001 | Justin Time | ||||
| Steppenwolf | 2002 | Justin Time | |||
| Experience | 2004 | Justin Time | |||
| Political Blues | 2006 | Justin Time | |||
| Yes We Can[5] | 2010 | Jazzwerkstatt |
With The 360 Degree Music Experience
With Lester Bowie
With Anthony Braxton
With James Carter
With Andrew Cyrille
With Gil Evans
With Craig Harris
With Abdullah Ibrahim
With Charles Mingus
With David Murray
With the Music Revelation Ensemble
With Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-star Orchestra
With Malachi Thompson
With Randy Weston and Melba Liston