Jazz / Modern Creative, World Fusion, Post-Bop
Yusef Lateef Shahnai, Sax (Alto), Vocals, Flute, Liner Notes, Oboe, Sax (Tenor), Arranger
Al Foster - Drums
Al White - Organ
Albert "Tootie" Heath Drums, Percussion
Amy DiDonato Production Coordination
Anthony Jackson Bass
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie Drums
Bill Salter Bass (Electric), Bass
Billy Butler Guitar
Bob Liftin Engineer
Bruce Tergesen Engineer
Cecil McBee Bass
Chuck Rainey Bass (Electric)
Chuck Stewart Photography
Cissy Houston Vocals
Cornell Dupree Guitar
Dana McCurdy Arp 2600
Danny Moore Trumpet
David Nadien Violin
David Spinozza Guitar
Dom Um Romão Percussion
Emanuel Green Strings
Eric Gale Guitar (Electric)
Gene Orloff Strings
Gene Paul Mastering
Gordine Edwards Bass
Hugh Lawson Piano
Ira Friedlander Design
J.C. White Singers Vocals
Jack Jeffers Trombone
Jack Shaw Associate Producer
James Buffington French Horn
Jim Cummins Photography
Jimmy Owens Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Joe Wilder Trumpet
Joel Brodsky Cover Design
Joel Dorn Liner Notes, Producer
Jonathan Dorn Tuba
Judy Clay Vocals
Keith Loving Guitar
Kenny Barron Keyboards, Piano
Kermit Moore Strings, Cello
Lee Friedlander Cover Photo
Leonard Goines Trumpet
Lewis Hahn Engineer
Marvin Israel Cover Design
Myron Dorf Cover Photo
Nancy Dwyer Graphic Design
Norman Pride Conga
Page Simon Graphic Design
Ray Barretto Conga
Ray Bryant Piano
Robert "Lip" Liftin Remixing, Engineer
Robert Cunningham Organ, Narrator, Bass
Ron Carter Bass
Roy Brooks Drums
Saeeda Lateef Liner Notes
Selwart Clarke Strings
Snooky Young Trumpet
Sonny Buxton Liner Notes
Steve Shaeffer Engineer
Sylvia Shemwell Tambourine
Thad Jones Trumpet
Unlike his earlier Riverside and Impulse recordings, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef's work for Atlantic was quite streaky and erratic as he tried many experimental directions, seemingly all at once. This 1998 three-CD set reissues all of the music originally on four LPs: The Complete Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef's Detroit, Hush 'N' Thunder and The Doctor Is In...And Out. The strongest set is the first one (from 1967), which almost sounds like an Impulse date. Lateef is heard on tenor, alto, oboe (on a beautiful version of "In the Evening") and flutes while backed by pianist Hugh Lawson, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Roy Brooks; only the leader's closing vocal on "You're Somewhere Thinking of Me" is a bit weak. The Detroit album has Lateef sticking to tenor and flute, and joined by a trumpet section, an expanded rhythm section and four strings for a variety of originals and "That Lucky Old Sun." Hush 'N' Thunder is strongest during a Lateef/Kermit Moore tenor-cello duet on "Come Sunday" and a quartet rendition of Kenny Barron's "Sunset," but it also has a few throwaway tracks. The 1976 recording The Doctor Is In...And Out shoots all over the place with sound effects, odd narration and Lateef playing along with a circa-1915 record of a vocal quartet on "In a Little Spanish Town." This is an interesting reissue, recommended with reservations to Lateef fans able to find it at a budget price, but the Riversides and Impulses should be acquired first. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
During the last half century, Yusef Lateef has successively reinvented himself as a swing-era tenor, world-music pioneer, and orchestral composer. Now 32 Jazz has reissued the cream of his Atlantic recordings on IThe Man with the Big Front Yard/I. This three-disc set offers a superb look at Lateef's quick-change artistry. A cut like "Kongsberg" finds the saxophonist in a hard-bop mood, leading an able quartet through his own gospel-flavored composition. Elsewhere Lateef deploys a bigger, funkier ensemble--indeed, the 1969 sessions originally issued as IYusef Lateef's Detroit/I feature percolating performances by the likes of pianist Eric Gale and Bernard Purdie. And a delicate arrangement of "Come Sunday," which spotlights the leader's flute alongside Kermit Moore's cello, anticipates the chamber music that this protean artist would produce throughout the 1970s.
---James Marcus
Yusef Lateef
Active Decades: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Oct 09, 1920 in Chatanooga, TN
Genre: Jazz
Yusef Lateef has long had an inquisitive spirit and he was never just a bop or hard bop soloist. Lateef, who does not care much for the name "jazz," has consistently created music that has stretched (and even broke through) boundaries. A superior tenor-saxophonist with a soulful sound and impressive technique, Lateef by the 1950s was one of the top flutists around. He also developed into the best jazz soloist to date on oboe, an occasional bassoonist and introduced such instruments as the argol (a double clarinet that resembles a bassoon), shanai (a type of oboe) and different types of flutes. Lateef played "world music" before it had a name and his output was much more creative than much of the pop and folk music that passes under that label in the 1990s.
Yusef Lateef grew up in Detroit and began on tenor when he was 17. He played with Lucky Millinder (1946), Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie's big band (1949-50). He was a fixture on the Detroit jazz scene of the 1950s where he studied flute at Wayne State University. Lateef began recording as a leader in 1955 for Savoy (and later Riverside and Prestige) although he did not move to New York until 1959. By then he already had a strong reputation for his versatility and for his willingness to utilize "miscellaneous instruments." Lateef played with Charles Mingus in 1960, gigged with Donald Byrd and was well-featured with the Cannonball Adderley Sextet (1962-64). As a leader his string of Impulse recordings (1963-66) were among the finest of his career although Lateef's varied Atlantic sessions (1967-76) usually also had some strong moments. He spent some time in the 1980s teaching in Nigeria. His Atlantic records of the late '80s were closer to mood music (or new age) than jazz but in the 1990s (for his own YAL label) Yusef Lateef has recorded a wide variety of music (all originals) including some strong improvised music with the likes of Ricky Ford, Archie Shepp and Von Freeman.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
