Yusef Lateef
Encyclopedia
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American
Grammy Award
-winning jazz
multi-instrumentalist
, composer
, educator
and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya
sect of Islam
in 1950.
Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone
and flute
, he is known for his innovative blending of jazz with 'Eastern
' music. In addition to the oboe
and bassoon
, both rare in jazz, Lateef plays various world music
instruments, notably the bamboo flute
, shanai, shofar
, arghul
, sarewa, and koto
.
, but his family moved to Detroit, Michigan
in 1925.
Throughout his early life Lateef came into contact with many Detroit-based jazz musicians who would gain prominence, including vibraphonist
Milt Jackson
, bassist
Paul Chambers
, drummer
Elvin Jones
, and guitarist
Kenny Burrell
. Lateef was a proficient saxophonist by the time of his graduation from high school
at age 18, at which point he launched his professional career and began touring with a number of swing
bands.
In 1949, Lateef was invited by Dizzy Gillespie
to tour with his orchestra. At this time, Lateef was known by the name William Evans, thereby making him one of three well-known jazz musicians besides Bill Evans
the pianist
and Bill Evans
the tenor saxophonist bearing the same surname. Notably, all three played with Miles Davis
during their careers.
In 1950, Lateef returned to Detroit and began his studies in composition
and flute at Wayne State University
. It was during this period that Lateef converted to Islam
as a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
.
, a non-exclusive association which continued until 1959; the earliest of Lateef's album's for the Prestige
subsidiary New Jazz overlap with them. Musicians such as Wilbur Harden
and Hugh Lawson
were among his collaborators during this period.
By 1961, with the recording of Into Something and Eastern Sounds
, Lateef's dominant presence within a group context had emerged. His 'Eastern' influences are clearly audible in all of these recordings, with spots for instruments like the rahab
, shanai, arghul
, koto
and a collection of Chinese wooden flutes
and bells along with his tenor and flute. Even his use of the western oboe
sounds exotic in this context; it is not a standard jazz instrument. Indeed the tunes themselves are a mixture of jazz standards, blues and film music usually performed with a piano/bass/drums rhythm section in support. Along with trumpeter Don Cherry
, Lateef can lay claim to being among the first exponents of the world music
as subgenres of jazz. Lateef also made numerous contributions to other people's albums including his time as a member of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley's Quintet during 1962-64.
Lateef's sound has been claimed to have been a major influence on the saxophonist John Coltrane
, whose later period free jazz
recordings contain similarly 'Eastern' traits. For a time (1963–66) Lateef was signed to Coltrane's label, Impulse. He had a regular working group during this period, with trumpeter Richard Williams and Mike Nock
on piano. They enjoyed a residency at Pep's Lounge during June 1964; an evening of which was issued across several albums.
In the late 1960s he began to incorporate contemporary soul
and gospel
phrasing into his music, still with a strong blues underlay, on albums such as Detroit and Hush'n'Thunder.
Lateef has expressed a dislike of the terms "jazz" and "jazz musician" as musical generalizations. As is so often the case with such generalizations, the use of these terms do understate the breadth of his sound. For example, in the 1980s, Lateef experimented with new age
and spiritual elements. His 1987 album Yusef Lateef's Little Symphony
won the Grammy Award
for Best New Age Album.
His core influences, however, are clearly rooted in jazz, and in his own words: "My music is jazz."
In 1992, Lateef founded YAL Records, his own label for which he records today. In 1993, Lateef was commissioned by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne
to compose The African American Epic Suite, a four part work for orchestra and quartet based on themes of slavery
and disfranchisement
in the United States. The piece has since been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
.
in New York
. He received a Bachelor's Degree
in Music in 1969 and a Master's Degree
in Music Education in 1970. Starting in 1971, he taught courses in autophysiopsychic music at the Manhattan School of Music, and he became an associate professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College
in 1972.
In 1975, Lateef completed his dissertation on Western and Islamic education and earned a Ed.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
.
In the early 1980s Lateef was a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Nigerian Cultural Studies at Ahmadu Bello University in the city of Zaria, Nigeria. Returning to the US in 1986 he took teaching positions at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College. Presently, he continues to teach at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hampshire College in western Massachusetts.
Lateef has written and published a number of books including two novella
s entitled A Night in the Garden of Love and Another Avenue, the short story collections Spheres and Rain Shapes, also his autobiography, The Gentle Giant, written in collaboration with Herb Boyd.
Along with his record label YAL Records, Lateef owns Fana Music, a music publishing company. Lateef publishes his own work through Fana, which includes Yusef Lateef's Flute Book of the Blues and many of his own orchestral compositions.
Autophysiopsychic Music, Lateef's term, refers to music which comes from one's physical, mental, and spiritual self. Lateef has written extensively on the topic and includes it in his book Method To Perform Autophsyiopsychic Music. In this view, it should be the goal of every musician to combine their theoretical knowledge with their life experience, and to offer to and accept knowledge from their personal source of strength, inspiration and knowledge.
Yusef's teaching of this music is very simple. It strays from what has become the standard dorian scale
over the two chord, mixolydian
over the five, and ionian
over the one chord. You learn what works for you, and you embellish those notes.
, National Endowment for the Arts which is an independent federal agency.
National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters is the highest honor given in Jazz established in 1982.
WGBH Jazz
, a popular public radio from Boston, Massachusetts, aired a special-documentary program for Lateef titling A portrait of saxophonist Yusef Lateef in his own words and music.
With Grant Green
With Cannonball Adderley
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, educator
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
sect of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in 1950.
Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, he is known for his innovative blending of jazz with 'Eastern
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
' music. In addition to the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, both rare in jazz, Lateef plays various world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
instruments, notably the bamboo flute
Bamboo flute
Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
, shanai, shofar
Shofar
A shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...
, arghul
Arghul
The arghul , also spelled argul, arghoul, arghool, argol, or yarghul , is a traditional Arabic musical instrument...
, sarewa, and koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
.
Early life and career
Lateef was born in Chattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, but his family moved to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1925.
Throughout his early life Lateef came into contact with many Detroit-based jazz musicians who would gain prominence, including vibraphonist
Vibraphonist
Notable players of the vibraphone include:* Peter Appleyard* Roy Ayers* Karl Berger* Jeff Berman* Jack Brokensha* Larry Bunker* Christian Burchard* Rusty Burge* Gary Burton* Joe Chambers* Teddy Charles* Salem Chiles* John Cocuzzi* Monte Croft...
Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
. Lateef was a proficient saxophonist by the time of his graduation from high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
at age 18, at which point he launched his professional career and began touring with a number of swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
bands.
In 1949, Lateef was invited by Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
to tour with his orchestra. At this time, Lateef was known by the name William Evans, thereby making him one of three well-known jazz musicians besides Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
the pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and Bill Evans
Bill Evans (saxophonist)
Bill Evans is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago...
the tenor saxophonist bearing the same surname. Notably, all three played with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
during their careers.
In 1950, Lateef returned to Detroit and began his studies in composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and flute at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
. It was during this period that Lateef converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
.
Prominence
Lateef began recording as a leader in 1957 for Savoy RecordsSavoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
, a non-exclusive association which continued until 1959; the earliest of Lateef's album's for the Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
subsidiary New Jazz overlap with them. Musicians such as Wilbur Harden
Wilbur Harden
Wilbur Harden was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer.Harden is most known for his recordings with saxophonists Yusef Lateef and John Coltrane, and also with trombonist Curtis Fuller. One of the first jazz trumpeters to double on flugelhorn, Harden started playing less...
and Hugh Lawson
Hugh Lawson (jazz pianist)
Hugh Lawson , was one of many talented Detroit jazz pianists of the 1950s ....
were among his collaborators during this period.
By 1961, with the recording of Into Something and Eastern Sounds
Eastern Sounds
Eastern Sounds is an album by jazz saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, recorded in 1961. The album features Lateef's continued exploration of Indian music, which were incorporated into his distinct brand of soulful hard bop with a quartet featuring Barry Harris on piano...
, Lateef's dominant presence within a group context had emerged. His 'Eastern' influences are clearly audible in all of these recordings, with spots for instruments like the rahab
Rahab
Rahab, was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city...
, shanai, arghul
Arghul
The arghul , also spelled argul, arghoul, arghool, argol, or yarghul , is a traditional Arabic musical instrument...
, koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
and a collection of Chinese wooden flutes
Chinese flutes
Chinese flutes come in various types. They includeTransverse Flutes:*Dizi...
and bells along with his tenor and flute. Even his use of the western oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
sounds exotic in this context; it is not a standard jazz instrument. Indeed the tunes themselves are a mixture of jazz standards, blues and film music usually performed with a piano/bass/drums rhythm section in support. Along with trumpeter Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Lateef can lay claim to being among the first exponents of the world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
as subgenres of jazz. Lateef also made numerous contributions to other people's albums including his time as a member of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley's Quintet during 1962-64.
Lateef's sound has been claimed to have been a major influence on the saxophonist John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, whose later period free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
recordings contain similarly 'Eastern' traits. For a time (1963–66) Lateef was signed to Coltrane's label, Impulse. He had a regular working group during this period, with trumpeter Richard Williams and Mike Nock
Mike Nock
Mike Nock is a jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. He began studying piano at 11 and by 18 was performing in Australia. He headed a trio that toured England in 1961 and then attended Berklee College of Music...
on piano. They enjoyed a residency at Pep's Lounge during June 1964; an evening of which was issued across several albums.
In the late 1960s he began to incorporate contemporary soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
phrasing into his music, still with a strong blues underlay, on albums such as Detroit and Hush'n'Thunder.
Lateef has expressed a dislike of the terms "jazz" and "jazz musician" as musical generalizations. As is so often the case with such generalizations, the use of these terms do understate the breadth of his sound. For example, in the 1980s, Lateef experimented with new age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
and spiritual elements. His 1987 album Yusef Lateef's Little Symphony
Yusef Lateef's Little Symphony
Yusef Lateef's Little Symphony is an album by Yusef Lateef, released through the record label Rhino Atlantic in June 1987. The album, which Billboard described as "an atmospheric four-movement classical/jazz composition", was produced by Lateef, recorded, mixed and mastered by Norman Blain, and...
won the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best New Age Album.
His core influences, however, are clearly rooted in jazz, and in his own words: "My music is jazz."
In 1992, Lateef founded YAL Records, his own label for which he records today. In 1993, Lateef was commissioned by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
to compose The African American Epic Suite, a four part work for orchestra and quartet based on themes of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and disfranchisement
Disfranchisement
Disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person's vote less effective, or ineffective...
in the United States. The piece has since been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...
and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
.
Education and teaching
In 1960, Lateef again returned to school, studying flute at the Manhattan School of MusicManhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He received a Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Music in 1969 and a Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Music Education in 1970. Starting in 1971, he taught courses in autophysiopsychic music at the Manhattan School of Music, and he became an associate professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College
Borough of Manhattan Community College
The Borough of Manhattan Community College is one of six two-year colleges within the City University of New York system and the only one in Manhattan. Founded in 1963, BMCC originally offered business-oriented and liberal arts degrees for those intending to enter the business world or transfer...
in 1972.
In 1975, Lateef completed his dissertation on Western and Islamic education and earned a Ed.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
.
In the early 1980s Lateef was a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Nigerian Cultural Studies at Ahmadu Bello University in the city of Zaria, Nigeria. Returning to the US in 1986 he took teaching positions at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College. Presently, he continues to teach at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hampshire College in western Massachusetts.
Lateef has written and published a number of books including two novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s entitled A Night in the Garden of Love and Another Avenue, the short story collections Spheres and Rain Shapes, also his autobiography, The Gentle Giant, written in collaboration with Herb Boyd.
Along with his record label YAL Records, Lateef owns Fana Music, a music publishing company. Lateef publishes his own work through Fana, which includes Yusef Lateef's Flute Book of the Blues and many of his own orchestral compositions.
Autophysiopsychic Music, Lateef's term, refers to music which comes from one's physical, mental, and spiritual self. Lateef has written extensively on the topic and includes it in his book Method To Perform Autophsyiopsychic Music. In this view, it should be the goal of every musician to combine their theoretical knowledge with their life experience, and to offer to and accept knowledge from their personal source of strength, inspiration and knowledge.
Yusef's teaching of this music is very simple. It strays from what has become the standard dorian scale
Dorian mode
Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :...
over the two chord, mixolydian
Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.-Greek Mixolydian:The idea of a...
over the five, and ionian
Ionian mode
Ionian mode is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C , which uses the diatonic octave species from C to the C an octave higher, divided at G into a fourth species of perfect fifth plus a third species of perfect fourth : C D...
over the one chord. You learn what works for you, and you embellish those notes.
Awards and honors
In 2010 he received lifetime the Jazz Master Fellowship Award from NEANational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, National Endowment for the Arts which is an independent federal agency.
National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters is the highest honor given in Jazz established in 1982.
WGBH Jazz
WGBH (FM)
WGBH is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of NPR and PRI. The license-holder is the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns WGBH-TV and WGBX-TV....
, a popular public radio from Boston, Massachusetts, aired a special-documentary program for Lateef titling A portrait of saxophonist Yusef Lateef in his own words and music.
Discography
As leader
- The Sounds of Yusef (1957)
- Other Sounds (1957)
- Jazz Mood (1957)
- Prayer to the East (1957)
- Cry! - Tender (1959)
- Contemplation (1960)
- The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef (1960, Riverside RecordsRiverside RecordsRiverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
) - The Centaur and the Phoenix (1961 Riverside)
- Into Something (1961)
- Eastern SoundsEastern SoundsEastern Sounds is an album by jazz saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, recorded in 1961. The album features Lateef's continued exploration of Indian music, which were incorporated into his distinct brand of soulful hard bop with a quartet featuring Barry Harris on piano...
(1961) - Jazz 'Round the WorldJazz 'Round the WorldJazz 'Round the World is an album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef featuring performances recorded in 1963 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(1963, Impulse!Impulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
) - Live at Pep'sLive at Pep'sLive at Pep's is a 1964 album by the American Jazz tenor saxophonist and flautist Yusef Lateef. Other participating musicians in this album were bassist Ernie Farrow, pianist Mike Nock, drummer James Black and trumpeter Richard Gene Williams....
(1964, Impulse!) - PsychicemotusPsychicemotusPsychicemotus is a 1965 album by Yusef Lateef.-Track listing:# "Psychicemotus" – 5:05# "Bamboo Flute Blues" – 4:02# "Semiocto" – 4:31# "Why Do I Love You?" – 6:32...
(1965, Impulse!) - A Flat, G Flat and CA Flat, G Flat and CA Flat, G Flat and C is an album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating -Track listing:...
(1966, Impulse!) - The Golden FluteThe Golden FluteThe Golden Flute is an album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(1966, Impulse!) - 19841984 (Yusef Lateef album)-Performance:* Yusef Lateef – flute, oboe, tenor saxophone* Mike Nock – piano* Reggie Workman – double bass* James Black – drums, percussion, indian bells...
(1966, Impulse!) - The Blue Yusef Lateef (1968) - Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
, Blue MitchellBlue MitchellRichard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
, Roy Brooks Jr. and Cecil McBeeCecil McBeeCecil McBee is an American post bop jazz bassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts." Allmusic called him "One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists".-Biography:McBee... - Yusef Lateef's Detroit (1969)
- The Diverse Yusef LateefThe Diverse Yusef LateefThe Diverse Yusef Lateef is a jazz album by saxophonist Yusef Lateef released in 1970. In it are mixed influences from rhythm and blues and soul music and world music .-Track listing:...
(1970) - Hush 'N' Thunder (1972)
- The Gentle Giant (1972)
- Part of the Search (1974)
- The Doctor is In... And Out (1974)
- Ten Years Hence (1975)
- Every Village Has a Song (1976)
- Autophysiopsychic (1978, CTI Records)
- In A Temple Garden (1979, CTI Records)
- Concerto for Yusef Lateef (1986)
- Yusef Lateef's Little SymphonyYusef Lateef's Little SymphonyYusef Lateef's Little Symphony is an album by Yusef Lateef, released through the record label Rhino Atlantic in June 1987. The album, which Billboard described as "an atmospheric four-movement classical/jazz composition", was produced by Lateef, recorded, mixed and mastered by Norman Blain, and...
(1987, Atlantic) - The World at Peace (1997)
- Beyond the Sky (2000)
- Go: Organic Orchestra: In the Garden (2003)
- The Doctor is In and Out (2005)
- Nocturnes (2005)
- The Complete Yusef Lateef (2005)
- The Blue Yusef Lateef (2005)
- Influence with Lionel and Stéphane Belmondo (2005)
- 10 Years Hence (2008)
As sideman
With Curtis FullerCurtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
- Images of Curtis FullerImages of Curtis FullerImages of Curtis Fuller is an album by jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller, released in 1960 on Savoy Records.-Track listing:#"Accident"#"Darryl's Minor"#"Be Back Ta-Reckla"#"Judyful"#"New Date"#"Accident"...
(1960; Savoy RecordsSavoy RecordsSavoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
)
With Grant Green
Grant Green
Grant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....
- GrantstandGrantstandGrantstand is an album by American jazz guitarist Grant Green featuring performances recorded and released on the Blue Note label in 1961. The CD reissue features one bonus track from the same session.-Reception:...
(1961; Blue NoteBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
)
With Cannonball Adderley
- The Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New YorkThe Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New YorkThe Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Village Vanguard and released on the Riverside label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes.The Allmusic review by...
(1962; Riverside) - Cannonball in Europe!Cannonball in Europe!Cannonball in Europe! is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Comblain-la-Tour in Belgium and released on the Capitol label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes...
(1962; Riverside) - Jazz Workshop RevisitedJazz Workshop RevisitedJazz Workshop Revisited is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco and released on the Riverside label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes...
(1962; Riverside) - Autumn Leaves (1963; Riverside)
- Nippon SoulNippon SoulNippon Soul is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Sankei Hall in Tokyo during his 1963 Japanese tour and released on the Riverside label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes...
(1963; Riverside)
External links
- Official website of Yusef Lateef
- Billboard Discography - Billboard's complete discography of Yusef Lateef
- Jazz Portraits from the WGBH Archives: Yusef Lateef a radio documentary from WGBH Radio Boston