Yusef Lateef

Hellbound

The Doctor is In & Our 

Atlantic, 1976 

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.

The Players : Yusef Lateef 

Yusef Lateef has long had an inquisitive spirit and he was never just a bop or hard bop soloist. Lateef, who does not care much for the term “jazz,” has consistently created music that has stretched (and even broken 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. Lateefplayed “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.

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Happy Belated Record Store Day, I wanted to share my holiday purchase with you. Here is Yusef Lateef’s Psychicemotus (mint condition, original pressing on Impulse) from Zia Records, www.ziarecords.com (Coachella Tent Sale 2011)

From the Original Liner Notes by Charles Stewart

Psychicemotus - the mind … the emotions. An original with a most interesting mood. The temp is varied and reminiscent of an African tribal dance groove. All elements are interwoven evenly on this one with an unusual melody, and armony tha complements the tempo. The tambourine aids the beat and gives flavor. Humming sound are made by releasing the back of the hand from the open mouth in a quick sliding fashion at even intervals apart. The pressure builds by forcing air from the diaphragm. Another sound made by not immediately releasing the air.  This is a demanding piece emotionally; the sounds are present to add textures. Yusef says, ” There are entire compositions written where texture are considered to be the melody like the works of Pierre Boulez who live in Paris. Much are is given to a variety of textures that helps to eliminate monotony… keeps interest flowing”