Arthur Edward George Themen (born 26 November 1939) is a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist and formerly

orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Critic

John Fordham John Fordham (died 1425) was Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Ely. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of Prince Richard from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named Lord Privy Seal in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381. ...

has described him as "an appealing presence on the British jazz circuit for over 40 years.... Originally a

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

and

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

disciple ... Themen has proved himself remarkably attentive to the saxophone styles of subsequent generations."John Fordham
"Art Themen — Pillar Rooms, Cheltenham" (review)
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 25 October 2001.

Life and career

Themen was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, where he was involved with the traditional jazz scene in the late 1950s as a self-taught musician,Art Themen biography
AllMusic. having started playing clarinet as a schoolboy at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

."Art Themen - the jazz doctor calls"
Rob Adams Journaliet.Bannister, Trevor
"Jazz in Reading pays tribute to Art Themen"
''Jazz In Reading'', May 2019. In 1958, he began his medical studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. There Themen started playing jazz with the Cambridge University Jazz Group – with bandmates including

Lionel Grigson Lionel Grigson (12 February 1942 – 14 June 1994) was an English jazz pianist, cornettist, trumpeter, composer, writer and teacher, who in the 1980s started the jazz course at the Guildhall School of Music. As Simon Purcell wrote in ''The Ind ...

Dave Gelly Dave Gelly MBE (born 28 January 1938) is a British jazz critic. A long-standing contributor to ''The Observer'', he was named Jazz Writer of the Year in the 1999 British Jazz Awards. Gelly is also a jazz saxophonist and broadcaster, presenting a ...

Dick Heckstall-Smith Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pri ...

Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as ''Clue'', ''Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and ''The Whole Nine Yards''. He also c ...

, and John Hart – the group under pianist Grigson's leadership achieving "near professional standard with a swinging hard-bop style that swept the board in the fiercely contested Inter-University Jazz Band Competitions". In 1961 Themen went to complete his studies at St Mary's Hospital Medical School,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, where he qualified in 1964; specialising in orthopaedic medicine, he eventually became a consultant. In London he played with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musicians

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...

and

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...

, and was a member of

Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Davy Graham, Ginger Baker, Art W ...

. Themen has said: "I had pretty much decided that I could continue to practise medicine and play saxophone, and Alexis, being heavily into blues as well as taking in jazz influences like

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

, furthered my knowledge of music quite a lot." In 1965, Themen played with the Peter Stuyvesant Jazz Orchestra in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, going on to play with such English luminaries as

Michael Garrick Michael Garrick MBE (30 May 1933 – 11 November 2011)Peter VacheObituary: Michael Garrick ''The Guardian'', 15 November 2011 was an English jazz pianist and composer, and a pioneer in mixing jazz with poetry recitations and in the use of jazz ...

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall ...

, and

Graham Collier James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz bassist, bandleader and composer. Life and career Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as a musician, ...

's Music. In 1974, Themen entered on what was to be one of his central musical relationships when he started playing with

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album ''Jazz Suite Inspir ...

, and he has played with all of Tracey's groups, touring with him all over the world as well as around the UK. Themen has also played and toured with visiting US musicians, including

Charlie Rouse Charlie Rouse (April 6, 1924 – November 30, 1988) was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist. His career is marked by his collaboration with Thelonious Monk, which lasted for more than ten years. Biography Rouse was born in Wash ...

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

Red Rodney Robert Roland Chudnick (September 27, 1927 – May 27, 1994), known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940 ...

George Coleman George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master. Early life Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...

, and

Al Haig Alan Warren Haig (July 19, 1922 – November 16, 1982) was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop. Biography Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in nearby Nutley. In 1940, he majored in piano at Obe ...

. He was featured in a profile on composer

in the 1985

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary 'Hoarded Dreams' In 1995, Themen formed a quartet with pianist

John Critchinson John William Frank Critchinson (24 December 1934 – 15 December 2017) also known as "Critch", was an English jazz pianist. Biography Critchinson was born in London in 1934. He worked as a part-time musician with Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, and J ...

. Themen's style originally owed much to the influence of

and

, but later influences included such disparate saxophonists as

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, and the "sheets of sound"

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

. Themen was interviewed by

Julian Joseph Julian Raphael Nathaniel Joseph (born 11 May 1966) is a British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster. Biography Joseph was born in London and attended Allfarthing Primary School and Spencer Park Secondary School in Wan ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

's ''Jazz Line-Up'' on 22 November 2014 as a celebration of the saxophonist's 75th birthday. He revealed that he had originally played clarinet, but since page three of the tutor book was missing he had played for some time with the mouthpiece upside-down. He was inspired to play saxophone after he attended a gig by the Dankworth Seven, at the local Palais, at the age of 16, with a female cousin. The immaculately-dressed and manicured saxophonist

Danny Moss Dennis Moss (16 August 1927 – 28 May 2008) was a British jazz tenor saxophonist. He performed with many figures in British jazz, including Vic Lewis, Ted Heath, John Dankworth, Alex Welsh, and Humphrey Lyttelton. Biography The son of a toolm ...

winked at Themen's cousin and the instant effect this had convinced Themen that his future lay in the saxophone. Following his retirement as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Themen has been focusing on his jazz career.

Discography

*1975: ''Captain Adventure'' -

Quartet *1976: ''Under Milk Wood'' -

Quartet *1976: ''The Bracknell Connection'' -

Octet *1979: ''Expressly Ellington'' -

Jamil Nasser Jamil Nasser (born George Joyner, June 21, 1932 – February 13, 2010)Obituary
at

and Art Themen *1980: ''South East Assignment'' -

Quartet *1981: ''The Crompton Suite'' -

Sextet *1982: ''Bebop "Live"'' – Al Haig, Peter King and Art Themen *1984: ''The Poets' Suite'' -

Quartet *1985: ''Now'' -

*1985: ''Live At Ronnie Scott's'' -

Hexad *1987: ''Genesis'' -

Orchestra *2008: ''The 3 Tenors at the Appleby Jazz Festival'' – Art Themen,

Mornington Lockett Mornington Edward Lockett (born 19 November 1961) is an English jazz saxophonist. Career Lockett began playing clarinet at the age of 14 while he was a student at Cowes High School, before switching to tenor saxophone. He studied at Dartington ...

and Don Weller (featuring Mark Edwards, Andrew Cleyndert and

Spike Wells Michael "Spike" Wells (born 16 January 1946) is an English jazz drummer and priest. Biography Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Wells was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He became interested in jazz after coming across a recording ...

)"The 3 Tenors At The Appleby Jazz Festival-TR578"
Trio Records *2019: ''Thane & The Villeins'' - Pete Whittaker, Art Themen, George Double. With

*'' New Conditions'' (Mosaic, 1976) *''

Symphony of Scorpions ''Symphony of Scorpions'' is a live album by composer/bassist Graham Collier featuring eponymous composition recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 1976 which was originally released on his own Mosaic label in 1977.The Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

'' (Mosaic, 1978) *''

Hoarded Dreams ''Hoarded Dreams'' is a live album by bassist/composer Graham Collier featuring a composition commissioned for the Bracknell Jazz Festival by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1983 and released on the Cuneiform label in 2007. Reception All ...

'' (Cuneiform, 1983 007

References

External links

*
Art Themen
at BBC Music * Jack Kenny

''Jazz Views'', February 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Themen, Art 1939 births Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge English jazz alto saxophonists British surgeons Musicians from Manchester British male saxophonists 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians Alumni of St Mary's Hospital Medical School People educated at Manchester Grammar School