Slide Hampton - Drum Suite

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:36
Size: 143,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:21)  1. Fump
(5:09)  2. Lover
(8:26)  3. Like Someone In Love
(4:28)  4. Gallery Groove
(5:23)  5. Our Waltz
(3:35)  6. It's All Right With Me
(3:14)  7. Stella By Starlight
(6:55)  8. Drum Suite (Parts I-V)
(5:46)  9. Well You Needn't
(3:14) 10. Sleigh Ride

This album, originally released by Epic, features trombonist-arranger Slide Hampton's augmented octet but it was overlooked when it was released in 1962 despite the all-star personnel. Hampton's arrangements are forward-looking hard bop and among the key soloists are tenor saxophonist Yusef Lateef (who is heard throughout in top form), drummer Max Roach and Hampton himself. The five-part "Drum Suite" is the most ambitious work but all of the arrangements have their unexpected moments, and Hampton's playing on an up-tempo "It's All Right with Me" is outstanding. This limited-edition Mosaic release, just a single CD, augments the original set with a version of "Well You Needn't" that was only out previously on an obscure sampler, plus a previously unreleased "Sleigh Ride" from the same dates. Overall the music is rewarding and if not quite essential, there are enough exciting moments (whether from the ensembles or the main soloists) to make this a recommended acquisition. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/drum-suite-mw0000495824

Personnel: Slide Hampton - trombone, arranger; John Bello, Hobart Dotson, Freddie Hubbard, Willie Thomas, Richard Williams - trumpet; Benny Jacobs-El - trombone; George Coleman - tenor saxophone; Yusef Lateef - flute, tenor saxophone; Jay Cameron - baritone saxophone; Tommy Flanagan - piano; Eddie Khan - bass; Vinnie Ruggiero, Max Roach - drums

Drum Suite Zippy

Drum Suite MC

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Yusef Lateef - Prayer To The East

Styles: Saxophone, Flute and Tambourine Jazz 
Year: 1957
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:46
Size: 103,5 MB
Art: Front

( 9:54)  1. A Night In Tunisia
(13:09)  2. Endura
( 8:18)  3. Prayer To The East
( 6:45)  4. Love Dance
( 6:37)  5. Lover Man

A half-a-century following its original release, Prayer to the East by Yusef Lateef remains a seemingly blessed moment of creative interaction between American modern jazz and the music of the so-called Arab East, the latter evoked in essences ranging from snippets of traditional musical scales to picture postcards of Tunisian nightlife. The second half of the '50s was a busy period for Lateef, at that time under contract to the Savoy imprint. This album as well as three others were all cut in October of 1957, establishing as much documentation as could ever be needed of a transition from a player in the swing context of bandleaders such as Lucky Millinder and Hot Lips Page to a bold adventurer. Extended improvisations and the introduction of unusual instruments were important parts of this development and these recordings, yet the impression should not be one of austerity. Lateef's use of the flute turned out to be commercial, one of many instances of this particular axe finding more favor among the listening public than it tends to within the ranks of musicians themselves. Lateef and comrades may have been going for deep listening, still it is worth pointing out that an admirer of sides such as Prayer to the East pointed out how much fun him and his buddies used to have listening to this music while playing pool. The lengthy "Night in Tunisia" is nothing but a great moment in small modern jazz combo recordings, allowing Lateef's budding interest to bloom in an intriguing light. Flugelhornist Wilbur Harden was also a collaborator of John Coltrane's in the same period. The brassman dodges imitations of the song's composer, high-note trumpet maestro Dizzy Gillespie, instead hovering in his mid-register, revealing a joke in a turn of phrase as if he was being spied on. The album's title track comes from drummer Oliver Jackson, so tightly affiliated with swinging syncopation that his nickname was "Bops Junior." Later drummers working in Lateef's combos such as Frank Gant and of course Elvin Jones would introduce more polyrhythms, percolating a brew that by the end of the '50s had much less of the aroma of a mainstream cup of jazz. Some listeners may find, however, that a player such as Jackson creates more excitement, more workable dynamics, the tension of a stylistic clash that is inevitably hinted at rather than shouted. "Lover Man" may have been an overdone number in the jazz combo repertory even by 1957; the subsequent years would only redeem this particular performance were it more substantial. A formidable Lateef original and Les Baxter's "Love Dance" are the two concluding numbers, each in the six-minute range without a wasted moment in either case. The leader's improvisations are perfect, full of interesting choices of register, a man in motion who somehow masks his true dimensions. ~ Eugene Chadbourne https://www.allmusic.com/album/prayer-to-the-east-mw0000120364

Personnel:  Yusef Lateef - tenor saxophone, flute, tracks 3 and 4, tambourine; Wilbur Harden - flugelhorn; Hugh Lawson - piano, ocarina; Ernie Farrow - bass; Oliver Jackson - drums, gong

Prayer To The East

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Curtis Fuller - Images of Curtis Fuller

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:58
Size: 71,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:14)  1. Accident
(5:36)  2. Darryl's Minor
(7:08)  3. Be Back Ta-Reckla
(9:01)  4. Judyful
(4:58)  5. New Date

Curtis Fuller was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1934. He came to music late, playing the baritone horn in high school and switching to the trombone at age 16. Detroit, at the time, was the breeding ground for an astonishing pool of fresh, highly individual talent. Milt Jackson and Hank Jones had already gone to New York and made their names. But coming of age in Detroit in the early fifties were Fuller, Donald Byrd, Elvin and Thad Jones, Paul Chambers, Louis Hayes, Kenny Burrell, Barry Harris, Pepper Adams, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Red, Hugh Lawson, Doug Watkins, Tommy Flanagan and many others who would make the mid- decade migration to New York and eventually international recognition. In 1953, Curtis left the local scene to serve his two-year stint in the army, where he met and played with Cannonball Adderley and Junior Mance among others. When he returned home, he began working with Yusef Lateef's quintet. The Lateef quintet came to New York in April 1957 to record two albums for Savoy and a third produced by Dizzy Gillespie for Verve. Word of Curtis's talent spread rapidly around New York. Although he initially came under the spell of J.J. Johnson and listed Jimmy Cleveland, Bob Brookmeyer and Urbie Green among his favorites, Fuller came to New York at the age of 22 with a unique style and sound. In May, after being in town for about a month, he recorded with Paul Quinchette and made his first albums as a leader: two quintet albums for Prestige with Sonny Red featured on alto. Like the Blue Note debuts by Kenny Burrell and Thad Jones the prior year, he used mostly transplanted Detroit players. Blue Note's Alfred Lion had also heard about Fuller and went to see him at the Cafe bohemia with Miles Davis's sextet. Curtis joined the Blue Note family, appearing on a Clifford Jordan date on June 2 and making his own, The Opener, with Hank Mobley, on June 16. That summer Curtis was everywhere. “Alfred brought me into dates with Jimmy Smith and Bud Powell. And then we did Blue Train with John Coltrane. And I became the only trombone soloist to record with those three artists.” 

So after eight months in New York, Curtis Fuller had made six albums as a leader and appeared on 15 others. Even in those prolific times, that's pretty impressive for a newly-arrived trombonist. At the end of '58, Benny Golson asked Curtis to share the front line for a Riverside blowing date entitled “The Other Side Of Benny Golson,” which put the emphasis on Benny's tenor playing rather than his composing and arranging. The chemistry between these two hornmen clicked, and they would record an album under Curtis's name for Savoy [Blues-ette] and three under Benny's name for Prestige in 1959 with various rhythm sections. They also made two Fuller albums for Savoy with trumpet added to the front line, which laid the groundwork for the creation of the Jazztet. In February 1960, the Jazztet, a sextet under the leadership of Benny Golson and Art Farmer, made their first album. Curtis Fuller was the trombonist and McCoy Tyner made his recording debut as the pianist. The Jazztet became a very successful unit from the start, but Fuller and Tyner left a few months into the life of the band. They were headed in other directions. In the summer of '61, Curtis made Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers a sextet for the first time. The combined writing and playing talents of Fuller, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Cedar Walton, driven by Blakey and Jymie Meritt (later Reggie Workman), created one of the most exciting and distinctive bands in the history of hard bop. Curtis stayed with the Jazz Messengers until February 1965. He spent the rest of that decade freelancing around New York, adding his beautiful sound to a number of Blue Note dates such as Lee Morgan's Tom Cat, Hank Mobley's A Caddy For Daddy, Joe Henderson's Mode For Joe and Wayne Shorter's Schizophrenia. After some health problems, Curtis is active again. What is as remarkable about Curtis Fuller as his lyrical improvising and ingenious writing, is his personality. On the road, on stage, or in the studio, Curtis is a relaxed professional who lifts every situation with his inredible sense of humor and his natural sparkle. https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/curtisfuller

Personnel:  Trombone – Curtis Fuller; Bass – Jimmy Garrison (tracks: 1, 5), Milt Hinton (tracks: 2 to 4;  Drums – Bobby Donaldson (tracks: 2 to 4), Clifford Jarvis (tracks: 1, 5); Piano – McCoy Tyner; Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Yusef Lateef;  Trumpet – Lee Morgan (tracks: 2 to 4), Wilbur Harden (tracks: 1, 5)

Images of Curtis Fuller

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Yusef Lateef - Psychicemotus

Styles: Flute, Saxophone And Tambourine Jazz 
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:26
Size: 90,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Psychicemotus
(4:00)  2. Bamboo Flute Blues
(4:29)  3. Semiocto
(6:29)  4. Why Do I Love You?
(3:26)  5. First Gymnopedie
(6:32)  6. Medula Sonata
(4:39)  7. I'll Always Be In Love With You
(4:45)  8. Ain't Misbehavin'

This is a welcome reissue of one of a series of fine Impulse! albums by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef that have never taken their deserved place among the major recordings of the '60s. I suspect part of the reason for their neglect has to do with the image, helped by both the Impulse!, and later Atlantic labels, in portraying Lateef as a purveyor of hopelessly arcane musical exotica. The weird title of this album doesn't help any more than the 2005 front cover copy crowing about how this music is "mysterious and uncategorizable." I find it nothing of the sort. Psychicemotus is quite available to any jazz fan with open ears, and unmysterious to anyone who can understand that African and Asian instruments and musical concepts have long been embraced and integrated into jazz by Lateef, who also has a long history in integrating R&B into jazz. Lateef's album is simply wildly eclectic and often driven by a variety of flutes. He handles Erik Satie's "First Gymnopedie" with a devout classical tone that's faithful to the graceful meditative structure of the original. On the other hand, "Bamboo Flute Blues" has some unusual tones vocalized on a F pentatonic scale called "primitive" in the original liner notes! but the shape of the piece is derived from traditional New Orleans jazz and gospel. 

Workouts on tenor sax like "I'll Always Be In Love With You" have a gruff sweetness to them that makes Lateef fit nicely in the same musical universe as Sonny Rollins. Much of the pleasure of this 1965 album is also derived from the superlative support given Lateef by bassist Reggie Workman, the obscure pianist George Arvanitas, and the amazingly underrated drummer James Black. The lightness and playfulness of the musical experimentation here is a massive contrast to much of what the Impulse! label was recording in the '60s, which serves as a reminder that new jazz then, as now, need not be darkly moody in order to make a mind and heart-expanding statement. ~ Norman Weinstein https://www.allaboutjazz.com/psychicemotus-yusef-lateef-impulse-review-by-norman-weinstein.php

Personnel: Yusef Lateef: flutes, tenor sax, tambourine; George Arvanitas: piano; Reggie Workman: bass; James Black: drums, percussion.

Psychicemotus

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Yusef Lateef - The Gentle Giant

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 1972
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:33
Size: 88,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:39)  1. Nubian Lady
(2:23)  2. Lowland Lullabye
(9:01)  3. Hey Jude
(4:33)  4. Jungle Plum
(3:41)  5. The Poor Fishermen
(3:50)  6. African Song
(2:13)  7. Queen of the Night
(5:10)  8. Below Yellow Bell

Yusef Lateef's music from the early '70s commands large doses of both appeal and skepticism. At a time when funk and fusion were merging with the intensely volatile and distrustful mood of the U.S., Lateef's brand of Detroit soul garnered new fans, and turned away those who preferred his earlier hard bop jazz or world music innovations. Thus The Gentle Giant is an appropriate title, as Lateef's levitational flute looms large over the rhythm & blues beats central to the equation. Kenny Barron's Fender Rhodes electric piano is also a sign of the times, an entry point introducing him to the contemporary jazz scene, and on that point alone is historically relevant. The post-Bitches Brew, pre-Weather Report/Headhunters time period is to be considered, and how this music put Lateef in many respects to the forefront of the movement. While inconsistent and at times uneven, there's more to praise than damn in the grooves and unique musicianship he offers with this small ensemble of focused and singular-minded players. At once funky and cool, Barron's "Nubian Lady" sets the tone out of the gate, the tune totally trumping Herbie Mann's Memphis Underground/Push Push style. The similar-sounding "Jungle Plum" is more danceable, simpler, and less attractive. While "Aftican Song" is also in this vein, it is less about the continent in the title as it is reflective of the era, and a slower number. Perhaps that actual title and the sleigh bell-driven "Below Yellow Bell" could have been reversed, for it is more Afrocentric, with Lateef's wordless vocal counterpoint closer to sounds of the savanna over a baroque rhythm & blues. "Hey Jude," under-produced to the point of inaudibility at the outset (the caveat given is "do not adjust the playback level on your audio equipment, readjust your mind"), busts out on the incessantly repeated "na na" chorus with the Sweet Inspirations doing the honors. The other tracks lay low, as Lateef and Al "Tootie" Heath's flutes and Kermit Moore's cello go into late-night mode for "Lowland Lullabye," "The Poor Fisherman" explores the leader's interest in Asian sounds with call and response, and "Queen of the Night" is a two-minute shortie with Eric Gale's modulated guitar mixing up meters of 4/4 and 3/4 in a slightly macabre way. This recording was produced in the middle of Lateef's commercial crossroads phase that started with the Atlantic label issue Yusef Lateef's Detroit in 1969 and ended in 1977 with the CTI release Autophysiopsychic. Though these tracks are potent reminders of how jazz was willfully being manipulated by the record companies Creed Taylor in particular this album is clear evidence of how great a musician Yusef Lateef was, but not in the context of his best music. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-gentle-giant-mw0000193408

Personnel:  Yusef Lateef - tenor saxophone, flute, bamboo flute, pneumatic bamboo flute, oboe, bells, tambourine;  Eric Gale - guitar (tracks 3 & 7);  Neal Boyar - vibraphone, chimes (track 3);  Chuck Rainey - electric bass (tracks 3 & 7);  Albert Heath - drums, flute (tracks 1, 2, 4-6 & 8);  Jimmy Johnson - drums (tracks 3 & 7);  The Sweet Inspirations - backing vocals (track 3);  Kermit Moore - cello (track 2);  Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant - piano, electric piano (tracks 1, 4, 6 & 8);  Bob Cunningham, Sam Jones - bass (tracks 1, 4, 6 & 8);  Bill Salter - electric bass (tracks 1, 4, 6 & 8);  Ladji Camara - African percussion (track 1, 4, 6 & 8)

The Gentle Giant

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Yusef Lateef - In A Temple Garden

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:06
Size: 91,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:18)  1. In A Temple Garden
(4:06)  2. Bismillah
(6:52)  3. Confirmation
(3:04)  4. Nayaz
(6:28)  5. Jeremiah
(3:55)  6. Honky Tonk
(3:57)  7. How I Loved You
(4:22)  8. Morocco

Yusef Lateef long had an inquisitive spirit and he was never just a bop or hard bop soloist. Lateef, who did not care much for the term "jazz," consistently created music that stretched (and even broke through) boundaries. A superior tenor saxophonist with a soulful sound and impressive technique, by the 1950s Lateef was one of the top flutists around. He also developed into the best jazz soloist to date on oboe, was 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 passed under that label in the '90s. 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 (1949-1950). He was a fixture on the Detroit jazz scene of the '50s 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 (1962-1964). As a leader, his string of Impulse! recordings (1963-1966) was among the finest of his career, although Lateef's varied Atlantic sessions (1967-1976) also had some strong moments. 

He spent some time in the '80s teaching in Nigeria. His Atlantic records of the late '80s were closer to mood music (or new age) than jazz, but in the '90s (for his own YAL label) Lateef recorded a wide variety of music (all originals) including some strong improvised music with the likes of Ricky Ford, Archie Shepp, and Von Freeman. Lateef remained active as a composer, improviser, and educator (teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst) into the 21st century, performing and recording as a leader and collaborator on such noteworthy recordings as Towards the Unknown with composer/percussionist Adam Rudolph (released in 2010, the same year Lateef was recognized as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts). Yusef Lateef died at his home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts in December 2013; he was 93 years old. 

~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-a-temple-garden/1182630776

Personnel:   Yusef Lateef - tenor saxophone, flute;   Randy Brecker - trumpet;  Jim Pugh - trombone, bass trombone;  Jerry Dodgion - alto saxophone;  Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone;   Tom Schuman - piano, electric piano, synthesizer;   Jeremy Wall - keyboards, percussion;  Suzanne Ciani - synthesizer, programming;   Eric Gale - guitar;   Steve Gadd - drums;   Jimmy Madison - drums.

In A Temple Garden

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Yusef Lateef - The Sounds Of Lateef (Remastered)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:21
Size: 71.8 MB
Styles: Fusion
Year: 1957/1996
Art: Front

[11:10] 1. Take The A Train
[ 4:14] 2. Playful Flute
[ 6:09] 3. Love And Humor
[ 5:06] 4. Buckingham
[ 4:40] 5. Meditation

Out of print in the U.S.! Highly creative and forward-looking 1957 album that has Lateef performing on tenor sax, flute and argol (a double clarinet that resembles a bassoon). He is supported by the talented playing of Wilbur Harden, Hugh Lawson, Ernie Farrow and Oliver Jackson.

The Sounds Of Lateef (Remastered) mc
The Sounds Of Lateef (Remastered) zippy

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Sonny Red - Breezing/A Story Tale/The Mode/Images (2-Disc Set)

Sonny Red (as), Blue Mitchell (tp), Yusef Lateef, Clifford Jordan (ts), Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Ronnie Matthews, Cedar Walton (p), Grant Green (g), Bob Cranshaw, Art Davis, George Tucker (b), Albert 'Tootie' Heath, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb (d).

Inspired by Charlie Parker and then Jackie McLean, the widely experienced, Detroit-born altoist Sonny Red, nee Sylvester Kyner (1932-1980) was an archetypal Motor City bopper, who, like many of his confreres there, also absorbed the blues-drenched lines of pianist Bud Powell. Forthright, direct, unpretentious, a skilled soloist with a strong feeling for the blues, he played and recorded with some of the finest jazzmen around.

The presence here of such luminous talents as, most notably, pianist Barry Harris, along with fellow pianist Tommy Flanagan, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, saxophonists Clifford Jordan and Yusef Lateef, and guitarist Grant Green left no doubt about his stature among them. Despite this and the fact that he also worked with such marquee names as Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller and Paul Quinichette, he never quite made the breakthrough his skills suggested he would and his recordings have been difficult to find.This collection of quartet, quintet and sextet settings brings together four albums he made for the Jazzland label during one of the most productive spells of his career and shows why he was held in such esteem by his contemporaries.

Album: Breezing/A Story Tale/The Mode/Images (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:53
Size: 180.6 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2012

[5:02] 1. Brother B
[4:03] 2. All I Do Is Dream Of You
[5:33] 3. The New Blues
[4:36] 4. Ditty
[6:27] 5. 'teef
[6:06] 6. Breezin'
[4:43] 7. A Handful Of Stars
[2:52] 8. If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You
[3:52] 9. Cumberland Court
[4:50] 10. A Story Tale
[5:39] 11. You're Driving Me Crazy
[3:27] 12. Defiance
[6:02] 13. Prints
[5:02] 14. Hip Pockets
[5:16] 15. They Say It's Wonderful
[5:16] 16. If I Didn't Care

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Album: Breezing/A Story Tale/The Mode/Images (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:05
Size: 176.5 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[4:21] 1. I Like The Likes Of You
[4:36] 2. Bye, Bye Blues
[6:34] 3. Never, Never Land
[4:19] 4. Ko-Kee
[6:34] 5. Images
[4:51] 6. Blues For Donna
[5:22] 7. Dodge City
[6:16] 8. Moon River
[5:38] 9. Super-20
[8:53] 10. The Mode
[8:33] 11. Blue Sonny
[5:15] 12. The Rythm Thing
[5:46] 13. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered


Breezing-A Story TaleThe ModeImages(Disc 1)(Disc 2)

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Donald Byrd - First Flight

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:48
Size: 125,7 MB
Art: Front

( 6:13)  1. Blues
( 6:26)  2. Tortion Level
( 7:32)  3. Woody 'n You
( 7:36)  4. Dancing In The Dark
(14:27)  5. Parisian Thoroughfare
( 5:35)  6. Yusef
( 6:56)  7. Shaw 'Nuff

First Flight: Yusef Lateef with Donald Byrd is trumpeter Donald Byrd's debut LP. Recorded in his native Detroit with such local players as tenor saxophonist Yusef Lateef, pianist Berry Harris, and Bernard McKinney on euphonium, Byrd is heard at the age of 22 when he was very much influenced by Clifford Brown. Unlike Byrd, Lateef already had his own style at this early stage. The sextet here mostly performs bop originals plus a blues, "Yusef," and "Torsion Level." All of the music is straight-ahead and swinging. A fine beginning for the very interesting career of Donald Byrd. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-flight-yusef-lateef-with-donald-byrd-mw0000266267

Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet); Frank Foster , Yusef Lateef (tenor saxophone); Bernard McKinney (euphonium); Hank Jones , Barry Harris (piano); Frank Gant, Kenny Clarke (drums).        

First Flight

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Yusef Lateef - Part Of The Search

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:14
Size: 87.5 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1974/2006
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. K.C. Shuffle
[0:39] 2. Oatsy Doatsy 1
[2:27] 3. Soul's Bakery
[3:25] 4. Lunceford Prance
[3:41] 5. Rock House
[0:15] 6. Oatsy Doatsy 2
[3:36] 7. In The Still Of The Night
[3:25] 8. Superfine
[4:11] 9. Strange Lullaby
[2:56] 10. Big Bass Drum
[9:53] 11. Getting Sentimental

Yusef Lateef's Atlantic albums tended to be erratic affairs with plenty of chances taken and the overall results being a mixed success. This set (reissued on CD) is one of his better efforts from the era. Lateef, doubling on tenor and alto this time, is backed not only by his trio but a big band, string quartet, three background vocalists and a variety of electric keyboardists and guitarists. There are enough good tracks (particularly "Lunceford Prance," "Rockhouse" and "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You") to make this a release worth checking out. ~Scott Yanow

Part Of The Search

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Nat Adderley & The Big Sax Section - That's Right!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 37:57

Size: 86.9 MB

Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz

Year: 1960/1993

Art: Front

[3:56] 1. The Old Country

[6:10] 2. Chordnation

[4:15] 3. The Folks Who Live On The Hill

[4:17] 4. Tadd

[4:16] 5. You Leave Me Breathless

[2:28] 6. Night After Night

[3:49] 7. E.S.P

[8:43] 8. That's Right!

Alto Saxophone – Julian "Cannonball" Adderley; Baritone Saxophone – Tate Houston; Bass – Sam Jones; Cornet – Nat Adderley; Drums – Jimmy Cobb; Flute – Yusef Lateef; Guitar – Jim Hall; Oboe – Yusef Lateef; Piano – Wynton Kelly; Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Rouse, Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef. Recorded Aug. 9 and Sept., 1960.

One of cornetist Nat Adderley's best early albums, That's Right has eight selections (seven of which were arranged by Jimmy Heath) that feature Nat with five saxophonists (altoist Cannonball Adderley, baritonist Tate Houston, and the tenors of Yusef Lateef, Jimmy Heath, and Charlie Rouse), and a rhythm section led by pianist Wynton Kelly. Despite Cannonball's presence, this is very much Nat's date (the altoist has just one solo), although there is some ample solo space for the three tenors. Highlights include Nat's memorable original "The Old Country," a touching version of "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," and "You Leave Me Breathless." Recommended. ~Scott Yanow

That's Right! 

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Nnenna Freelon - Listen

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:28
Size: 148,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:25)  1. Gaia's Garden
(3:58)  2. Dad's Delight / Lil B's Poem
(5:15)  3. Will You Still Love Me Tomorro
(6:15)  4. I'll Be Around / I Love You
(6:28)  5. Ballad for Aisha
(4:42)  6. A Hundred Dreams From Now
(3:34)  7. Circle Song
(3:30)  8. Sol Cycle
(5:26)  9. Waste Not Want Not
(4:49) 10. Journey of the Heart
(7:00) 11. Song of Silent Footprints
(4:59) 12. Lost in the Stars
(3:00) 13. Listen

Nnenna Chinyere Freelon is a world-renowned jazz vocalist; she has recorded extensively and been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards. While this doesn't necessarily set her apart from other more prolific female jazz singers, there is one aspect of her career that does: she didn't begin recording until she was in her late thirties. She was born in Cambridge, MA, in 1954 as Nnenna Chinyere Pierce. She began singing at an early age in church, but didn't pursue music as a career until decades later. She graduated from Simmons College, with a degree in health care administration. She worked for a time in in social services for Durham, NC's hospital corporation. In 1979, she married Philip Freelon, an architect. The couple had three children before she began to consider a career in music. She studied with Yusef Lateef, developing her singing through listening to horn players. Her big break came in 1990 while attending the Southern Arts Federation's jazz meeting, and sitting in with Ellis Marsalis. Marsalis was doing A&R for Columbia Records' Dr. George Butler at the time, and asked the singer for a tape, which he passed on to Butler, who signed her. Her self-titled debut recording was released in 1992 and attracted mixed reviews due to Freelon's heavy stylistic debt to Sarah Vaughan  though this was not entirely the vocalist's fault but her producer's. Her second album, a ballad-heavy collection entitled Heritage, was released in 1993, and was received by critics and fans alike as a jewel. Freelon truly established her own voice and style with her 1994 outing, Listen. it was her final recording for Columbia. In 1995 she signed to Concord (where she was granted far more artistic control over her recordings). She released her first album for the label, Shaking Free, in 1996; for it she received her first Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Maiden Voyage, released in 1998, was also nominated for Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance; it displayed her interest in the role of women in music and society as expressed through her sometimes radical but always elegant interpretations of pop and folk songs as well as jazz standards. 

In 2000, Freelon branched out. She made her acting debut in the feature film What Women Want and released her first self-produced set, Soulcall. The album garnered her two Grammy nominations: one for Best Jazz Vocal Album and another for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal for her interpretation of the standard "Button Up Your Overcoat." In 2002 she released Tales of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder, a tribute recording of songs written by, and associated with, the Motown great, and as a reward, received another Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She recorded her first live album in 2005, and followed it with her radical Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday in 2006; this album is wildly refreshing for the way in which Freelon took great liberties with songs associated with Holiday, reinterpreting them in contemporary settings and in her own bold image. And while some jazz critics took notable exception to messing with Lady Day, Freelon was nonetheless honored by the RIAA with another Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2008, she appeared as the only vocalist on the Monterey Jazz Festival: 50th Anniversary All-Stars album, fronting a band that starred Benny Green, James Moody, Terence Blanchard, Kendrick Scott, and Derrick Hodge. In 2010, Ms. Freelon released her seventh Concord album, Homefree. ~ Thom Jurek https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/nnenna-freelon/id902838#fullText

Personnel: Nnenna Freelon, Jon Lucien (vocals); Dick Oatts (alto & soprano saxophones); Alex Foster (tenor saxophone); Earl Gardner (trumpet); Scott Whitfield (trombone); Cecil Bridgewater (flugelhorn); Dave Valentin (soprano flute); Yusef Lateef (alto flute); Stan Pollack (violin); Kathryn Klenke (viola); Eugene Moye (cello); Bill Fischer (vibraphone, marimba, bells); Bill O'Connell (piano); Scott Sawyer (guitar); Ron Carter (bass); Ricky Sebastian (drums); Warren Smith (percussion).

Listen

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Yusef Lateef - The Blue Yusef Lateef

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:19
Size: 83.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Free jazz
Year: 1968/2005
Art: Front

[4:19] 1. Juba Juba
[7:33] 2. Like It Is
[4:35] 3. Othelia
[3:15] 4. Moon Cup
[5:01] 5. Back Home
[3:43] 6. Get Over, Get Off And Get On
[4:46] 7. Six Miles Next Door
[3:04] 8. Sun Dog

Alto Saxophone – Sonny Red; Bass – Cecil McBee; Bass [Fender] – Bob Cranshaw; Drums – Roy Brooks; Guitar – Kenny Burrell; Harmonica – Buddy Lucas; Piano – Hugh Lawson; Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Flute [Pneumatic], Flute [Bamboo], Instruments [Shannie], Tambura, Koto [Taiwan Koto], Percussion [Scratcher] – Yusef Lateef;
Trumpet – Blue Mitchell.

Though there is some confusion about what happened to the 32 Jazz label, producer Joel Dorn's other project, his label M, is following closely in its footsteps; unique packaging and a wealth of fine material licensed from Dorn's years as a jazz producer at Atlantic Records seems its sole M.O.. On The Blue Yusef Lateef, listeners get an amazing chapter from the late '60s, an amazing period when everything in the world of jazz was changing. Lateef was big on concept recordings. He and Dorn did no less than ten during their tenure together at Atlantic. This one examines, in a painterly way, all the different ranges of emotion contained within the blues genre. With a band that included Detroit jazz gods Roy Brooks on drums and Kenny Burrell on guitar, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, Sonny Red on alto, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, and a very young Cecil McBee on acoustic bass, you get the idea that Lateef was after something different. Lateef performs on not only his tenor and flute, but bamboo and pneumatic flutes, tamboura, koto, and others; Lateef was exploring the outer reaches of the blues as they might appear and appeal to Eastern as well as Western cultures. From the opening moments in "Juba Juba," everything comes in one package -- the slow, snaky groove only the blues can provide, with the Eastern scale modalities and polyphony attached via Lateef's flute and Brook's percussion. But before becoming too ethereal, Mitchell chimes in with a barrelhouse muted trumpet and Buddy Lucas wails a shuffle on harmonica. There is also an unidentified female gospel chorus humming in the background -- reminiscent of the Staples at their spookiest. Next up is the even-more Eastern-tinged "Like It Is," sounding like it was left off "Blues from the Orient." Lawson's minor key explorations and Brooks' spontaneous actions with a variety of percussion instruments usher in a groove that only Lateef could create. It is very slow, harmonically complex, and lush in a manner that suggests exotica sans the corniness of Les Baxter. It quietly roars with a melodic polytonality courtesy of Lateef's tenor, joined by Lawson's striking mode changes in his solo. Then comes the barrelhouse romp of "Othelia," the Japanese psychedelia of "Moon Cup," and the samba-fied bluesiana of "Back Home," citing Afro-Cuban pop Machito arrangements inside a Brazilian carnival-chant created of vocal overtones and greasy rhythms. You get the picture. The Blue Yusef Lateef is one wild album. In sound, it is the very best the '60s had to offer in terms of experimentation and accessibility. This is blues you can dance to, but also meditate to and marvel at; a pearl worthy of the price. ~Thom Jurek

The Blue Yusef Lateef

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Yusef Lateef - Multi-Man (Discs 1 & 2)

Yusef Lateef long had an inquisitive spirit and he was never just a bop or hard bop soloist. Lateef, who did not care much for the term "jazz," consistently created music that stretched (and even broke through) boundaries. A superior tenor saxophonist with a soulful sound and impressive technique, by the 1950s Lateef was one of the top flutists around. He also developed into the best jazz soloist to date on oboe, was 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 passed under that label in the '90s. 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 (1949-1950). He was a fixture on the Detroit jazz scene of the '50s 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 (1962-1964). As a leader, his string of Impulse! recordings (1963-1966) was among the finest of his career, although Lateef's varied Atlantic sessions (1967-1976) also had some strong moments. He spent some time in the '80s teaching in Nigeria. His Atlantic records of the late '80s were closer to mood music (or new age) than jazz, but in the '90s (for his own YAL label) Lateef recorded a wide variety of music (all originals) including some strong improvised music with the likes of Ricky Ford, Archie Shepp, and Von Freeman. Lateef remained active as a composer, improviser, and educator (teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst) into the 21st century, performing and recording as a leader and collaborator on such noteworthy recordings as Towards the Unknown with composer/percussionist Adam Rudolph (released in 2010, the same year Lateef was recognized as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts). Yusef Lateef died at his home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts in December 2013; he was 93 years old. ~ bio by Scott Yanow

Album: Multi-Man (Disc 1)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 63:50

Size: 146.1 MB

Styles: Post bop, World fusion

Year: 2016

Art: Front

[ 4:43] 1. Road Runner

[ 5:02] 2. Psychicemotus

[ 9:39] 3. Number 7

[ 3:25] 4. First Gymnopedie

[ 2:34] 5. One Little Indian

[10:10] 6. Delilah

[ 7:40] 7. Nu-Bouk

[ 5:17] 8. The Magnolia Triangle

[ 3:15] 9. The Greatest Story Ever Told

[ 3:03] 10. Soul Sister

[ 4:30] 11. P. Bouk

[ 4:26] 12. Semiocto

Multi-Man (Disc 1) 

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Album: Multi-Man (Disc 2)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 63:21

Size: 145.0 MB

Styles: Post bop, World fusion

Year: 2016

Art: Front

[4:44] 1. Listen To The Wind

[9:10] 2. Brother John

[5:26] 3. Sister Mamie

[3:26] 4. Slippin' And Slidin'

[4:28] 5. I Loved

[4:23] 6. Oasis

[2:11] 7. Try Love

[3:51] 8. Rosetta

[6:14] 9. Yusef's Mood

[6:31] 10. Medula Sonata

[8:13] 11. 1984

[4:38] 12. I'll Always Be In Love With You

Multi-Man (Disc 2) 

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Yusef Lateef - The Doctor Is In And Out

Size: 104,9 MB
Time: 43:06
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1976/2002
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. The Improvisors (7:53)
02. Hellbound (6:36)
03. Mystique (7:39)
04. Mississippi Mud (2:51)
05. Mush Mouth (6:26)
06. Technological Homosapien (5:16)
07. Street Musicians (2:57)
08. In A Little Spanish Town (T'was On A Night Like This) (3:25)

In 1976, Yusef Lateef's as restless a spiritual seeker as there ever was in the field of music, revisited some of his earliest themes in the context of modern sonic frameworks: The Eastern modal and melodic frameworks of his Prestige sides, such as Eastern Sounds, Cry!/Tender, and Other Sounds, brought to bear in much more sophisticated, complex, and grooved-out ways -- after all, it had been 20 years or more. The groove referred to is funk and soul. Funk itself was mutating at the time, so Lateef's interpolation at the crossroads of all ports in the musical journey was not only valid in 1976, but also necessary. For this recording, he utilized an absolutely huge group of musicians, bringing them in for this or that part, or a sound, or a particular vamp. Some of those present were Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Dom Um Romao, Al Foster, Billy Butler, Anthony Jackson, a five-piece brass section, and a synth player. Lateef, as always, was offering evocative glimpses of geographical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional terrain in his compositions, but not in predictable ways. There's the deep minor-key meditation on blues and evolving thematic variations on "Hellbound" that becomes a Latin funk tune; the airy, contemplative, and skeletal "Mystique," which may use a repeating rhythmic phrase but explores every inch of its margins via a string section and Lateef's flute solo; the smooth, urban, bluesy funk of "Mississippi Mud"; the completely out electronic musique concrète<\it> of "Technological Homosapien" that becomes a series of synth squeals and an erratically tumbling bassline; and the wonderfully warped mariachi variation (sung in white-boy English) that featured the band playing bluesy hard bop over an age-old recorded track on "In a Little Spanish Town." It's a weird way to end a record, but then, it's a weird and wonderful record. ~by Thom Jurek

The Doctor Is In And Out

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Yusef Lateef - 10 Years Hence

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:12
Size: 181,5 MB
Art: Front

(22:15)  1. Samba de Amor (Fantasy): Samba de Amor (Part I)-Time Montage-Samba de Amor (Part II)
(18:02)  2. Yusef's Mood
(12:25)  3. But Beautiful
( 8:29)  4. A Flower
(17:59)  5. I Be Cold

This 2008 release of a live 1975 performance at San Francisco's Keystone Korner may appeal to Lateef completists, but those still new to him or curious about his fame might consider starting elsewhere. The first of Ten Years Hence's five long numbers is Bob Cunningham's three-part "Samba De Amor," which begins with the bassist bowing and plucking alongside the sound of cowbells, horns, whoops and other vocalizations, and Lateef on transverse flute. Fully five minutes on, a light but entertaining enough samba takes shape. The quiet middle section, "Time Montage," provides a puzzling pause with woodwinds and bells, although something onstage creates a buzz with the audience. The return to the samba quickly dies out, leaving the feeling of a 22-minute long, involved effort that never quite soared. "Yusef's Mood" follows: a rhythm-and-blues that might be fun from the Keystone's dance floor, but sounds conventional on disc. Pianist Kenneth (Kenny) Barron takes the lead, but despite his dexterity the runs sound labored and the boogie uninspired, never igniting the kind of R&B sparks that shimmered from the keyboards of artists including Leon Russell, Nicky Hopkins, Jaki Byard and Cedar Walton in the mid-'70s. Lateef's sax adds a broad-shouldered presence, but only a few licks and growls give account of his fame. But for the masterful attack, in a blind quiz few would blink on learning that any of a dozen promising turks was blowing.

"But Beautiful" is the only standard, and Lateef plays it with smoky abandon, clearly in his element. Barron comps with Monk-ish splashes and jabs, and the group cooks up a well-spent 12 minutes of jazz. Lateef closes by invoking a slow, supremely confident solo that earns the audience's warmest applause. But Barron's candidly sentimental "A Flower" comes next, and here Lateef plays his flute with earnest tremolo while the pianist paints on ornamentation worthy of Liberace. The closing number is "I Be Cold" an inventive piece of considerable charm. Lateef sticks to rapping a soulful moan about how he "be cooold," periodically letting out an odd, humorous bark with the sealhorns. A well-arranged chorus and subdued instrumentation provide loose support for the rap, bass, piano, and those sporadic burps. Despite its spare, repetitive means, this funky 18-minute groove resonates as the album's best-developed original. Along with "But Beautiful," it's a definite candidate for anthologizing. If only the whole session were at this inspired level. The cover replicates a contact sheet presumably no picture had the right impact for cover art. The liner notes are almost microscopically small, hampering readability that might clarify Lateef's part, if any, in this release, and the title's meaning. This is a very eclectic session covering several musical forms, and unlikely to suit every taste. Quite possibly not for purist jazz-lovers, Lateef completists might well enjoy Ten Years Hence's various rewards. ~ Bert Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ten-years-hence-yusef-lateef-wounded-bird-records-review-by-bert-bailey.php

Personnel: Yusef Lateef: tenor saxophone, c-flute, sealhorns, shanie, oboe, below yellow shell flute, African thumb piano and percussion; Kenneth Barron: piano and cowbell; Bob Cunningham: bass and African leg bells; Albert 'Kuumba Heath: Druands, Chinese shanie, percussion metal cones and Northern Indian flute; Bill Salter: bass (5).

10 Years Hence

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Yusef Lateef - The Golden Flute

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:44
Size: 91,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:47)  1. Road Runner
(3:28)  2. Straighten Up and Fly Right
(4:26)  3. Oasis
(4:06)  4. (I Don't Stand) A Ghost of a Chance with You
(2:57)  5. Exactly Like You
(3:56)  6. The Golden Flute
(3:54)  7. Rosetta
(4:35)  8. Head Hunters
(7:31)  9. The Smart Set

It’s a shame that Yusef Lateef is relegated to the second tier of jazz musicians, left as an artist who is known more for his work as a sideman. His abilities as a multi-instrumentalist place him a category with Roland Kirk, yet with none of the acclaim. It’s true that on his Atlantic releases Lateef was saddled with inferior material, but his earlier recordings are adventurous, melodic, and quite satisfying.

The Golden Flute is a marvelous recording from 1966 that showcases Lateef’s ability to sustain a warm groove through a well-designed program of originals and standards. “Road Runner” is a slow, funky tune with gutsy improvising that segues into a slow, beautiful treatment of “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” a sultry ballad infused with melancholy beauty. Yet what would be a relatively straightforward session is augmented by Lateef’s interest in using other instruments to create new textures. Despite the title, there are only two tracks featuring Lateef on flute, but both show his interest in foreign scales and how they can enhance the palette available for improvisation in a consistent way. On “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You” the thin, reedy sound of Lateef’s oboe introduces a eerie quality into a straightforward standard. However, the cherry on top is “Head Hunters,” where Lateef sits out and the rhythm section works through a tune you’ll have in your head long after the recording is over. In the end, Lateef proves himself on The Golden Flute to be an artist of merit, capable of creating a haunting session worthy of comparison to Wayne Shorter’s Blue Note recordings. This is an excellent opportunity to discover an artist whose work as a leader is well worth a listen. ~ David Rickert https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-golden-flute-yusef-lateef-impulse-review-by-david-rickert.php
 

Personnel: Yusef Lateef (tenor saxophone, flute, oboe); Hugh Lawson (piano); Herman Wright (bass); Roy Brooks, Jr. (drums).

The Golden Flute

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Doug Watkins - Soulnik

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:60
Size: 98,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:19)  1. 01. One Guy.mp3
(6:50)  2. 02. Confessin' (That I Love You).mp3
(5:48)  3. 03. Soulnik.mp3
(7:00)  4. 04. Andre's Bag.mp3
(5:37)  5. 05. I Remember You.mp3
(6:12)  6. 06. Imagination.mp3

Bassist Doug Watkins only led two recording sessions before his death in 1962, and this set (which was cut for New Jazz and reissued on CD in the OJC series) has sometimes appeared under Yusef Lateef's name. Watkins doubles on cello (an instrument he had reportedly only begun playing three days earlier) during the set with Lateef (who triples on tenor, flute, and oboe), pianist Hugh Lawson, bassist Herman Wright, and drummer Lex Humphries. The quintet performs three standards, Watkins' "Andre's Bag," and a couple of Lateef tunes. The use of oboe and cello on some numbers makes the date stand out a bit from the usual hard bop sessions of the period and straight-ahead jazz fans will want to get this CD.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/soulnik-mw0000644708

Personnel: Doug Watkins (cello); Yusef Lateef (flute, oboe, tenor saxophone); Hugh Lawson (piano); Lex Humphries (drums).

Soulnik  

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Yusef Lateef - Cry!-Tender

Styles: Saxophone, Oboe, Flute Jazz
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:12
Size: 85,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:11)  1. Sea Breeze
(3:18)  2. Dopolous
(6:00)  3. Cry!-Tender
(5:45)  4. Butter's Blues
(4:24)  5. Yesterdays
(3:13)  6. The Snow Is Green
(4:49)  7. If You Could See Me Now
(6:30)  8. Ecaps

In 1959, Yusef Lateef began using the oboe in his recording sessions and on live dates. This album marks that occasion, and is thus a turning point in an amazingly long and varied career. Accompanied by Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, bassist Herman Wright, and drummer Frank Gant, Lateef was digging deeply into a new lyricism that was Eastern-tinged (the full flavor of that obsession would be issued two years later on Eastern Sounds and had been touched upon two years earlier on Other Sounds, released on New Jazz, where Lateef had used an argol as well as his sax and flute), modally informed, and distinctly light in texture with the exception of the deep, dark, arco work at the beginning of "Dopolous," by Wright. Lateef was already moving away from what most people would call jazz by this time, yet, as evidenced here, his music remained challenging and very accessible. This is meditative music with a stunningly rich rhythmic palette for how muted and edgeless it is. And, like John Cage or Morton Feldman, the absence of those edges was written in; it's not random. On tunes like the aforementioned, "Butter's Blues," or even "If You Could See Me Now," Lateef could take the blues and move it into shadowy territory, pulling out of the intervals and changes certain harmonic concepts to turn the music back on itself. If restraint got practiced in the dynamic range, the drama in the music would be all the greater because of the wider harmonic palette -- because it could be heard, not just felt. The result is a seamless, velvety, yet poignant take on the blues that echoed the tears referenced in the title of the album. And yet, the beauty, such a tender beauty, was so unspeakably fragile that the brass and reed instruments seemed to hover over the rhythm section and cut holes in the air like fine razors that can only be praised for the fineness of their slash. This was the beginning of Lateef's change in direction and, as a result, it deserves to be noted for that. However, it needs to be doubly noted for its truly magnificent sound, texture, playing, composition, and choice of tunes.~Thom Jurek http://www.allmusic.com/album/cry!-tender-mw0000691032

Personnel:  Yusef Lateef - tenor saxophone, flute, oboe;  Lonnie Hillyer - trumpet (tracks 1-7);  Wilbur Harden - flugelhorn (track 8);  Hugh Lawson - piano (tracks 1-7);  Ernie Farrow (track 8), Herman Wright (tracks 1-7) – bass;  Frank Gant (tracks 1-7), Oliver Jackson (track 8) - drums, percussion

Cry!-Tender

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Various - Pure Fire! A Gilles Peterson Impulse Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:29
Size: 147.6 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[ 6:11] 1. Michael White - The Blessing Song
[ 5:07] 2. Ray Brown - Enchanted Lady
[ 7:00] 3. Max Roach - Lonesome Lover
[ 6:46] 4. Art Blakey - À La Mode
[ 5:13] 5. Archie Shepp - I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
[ 9:00] 6. John Coltrane - Wise One
[10:09] 7. McCoy Tyner - Three Flowers
[ 5:19] 8. Dave McKay - See You Later
[ 6:15] 9. Oliver Nelson - Patterns
[ 3:25] 10. Yusef Lateef - First Gymnopedie

Despite including two jaw-droppingly featherweight and disposable tracks—Michael White's "The Blessing Song" and Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton's "See You Later"—Pure Fire! is a welcome and timely compilation. Not only because of the other nine tracks, most of which are outstanding, but also because of the two offending pieces of la-la land muzak. The album presents, intentionally or otherwise, the most rounded, warts and all, single-disc precis of the Impulse! archive yet.

The work of Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp is certainly the most important strand of the Impulse! legacy. But people tend to forget that the label covered a much broader field than just firebrand tenor saxophonists, even its mid-1960s/early-1970s heyday. Cool, West Coast, third stream, hard bop, mainstream, big band, astal jazz, blues, modal/free and vocals—and one-of-a-kind Cecil Taylor—were all recorded by the label.

London DJ Gilles Peterson covers several of these strands. Peterson has been a welcome and sunny presence on the British jazz/world/dance scene since the mid-1980s, when he accelerated the zeitgeist with his influential Talkin' Loud And Saying Something events. Here he applies his quirky, non-conformist aesthetic, most memorably, to hard bop (Art Blakey's high torque "Alamode," from The Jazz Messengers, 1961), mainstream (Milt Jackson & Ray Brown's gorgeous "Enchanted Lady," from Memphis Jackson, 1969), thinly veiled agitprop (Max Roach's "Lonesome Lover," from It's Time, 1962), third stream (Yusef Lateef's Erik Satie tribute "First Gymnopedie," from Psychiceotus, 1965), the blues (Archie Shepp's down-home reading of "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good," from For Losers, 1969), and the classic Coltrane quartet (the achingly beautiful "Wise One," from Crescent, 1964).

A few tracks benefit from the presence of musicianly, emotionally articulate vocalists—China-Lin Sharpe on Shepp's "I Got It Bad" and Abbey Lincoln on Roach's "Lonesome Lover"—but not Mackay & Hamilton's "See You Later" (from Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton, 1969) or White's "The Blessing Song" (from Pneuma, 1972). What the anodyne MOR warblers Mackay & Hamilton were ever doing on Impulse! remains a mystery. White's noodling violin on "The Blessing Song," together with the all-over-the-place, cooing vocal choir, is also best forgotten.But it's good to be reminded that Impulse! didn't always get it right. Most of the time, though, the label surely did, and the generally lesser known, upbeat and lyrical tracks featured here will be trips forever. ~Chris May

Milt Jackson & Ray Brown; Yusef Lateef; Max Roach; Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers; Michael White; McCoy Tyner; Archie Shepp; Oliver Nelson; Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton; John Coltrane; Pharoah Sanders.

Pure Fire! A Gilles Peterson Impulse Collection

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