***** Yusef Lateef Corner *****

[king ubu]

What I know from the "early Savoy sessions" (Jazz Moods and Jazz for Thinkers) is among the very best Lateef, in my opinion. I really wish OK or whoever came around putting the "first" sessions set together, too!

Somehow I always found the word "last" in the title of the released set rather strange - if there's "last" and "first", there's something missing in between - maybe even the main chunk, no?

[sidewinder]

Those early Lateef Savoys are terrific ! I have most of them I think on the 70s Arista twofer 'Morning' and the follow-on double 'Gong'. The front line of Lateef and Curtis Fuller works extremely well on these sessions. Very similar in terms of sound to the 'Before Dawn' session.

[Chas]

I have and enjoy , Live at Peps , Before Dawn and some of the Riverside material . For some reason I never picked up any of 'Teef's Savoy output . As to how much of the Savoy material is available on CD , this is what I have come up with :

All 5 tracks from this date came out on a 1994 Denon CD of the same name .

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None of the 5 tracks from this date are on CD .

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All 5 tracks from this date came out on a 1994 Denon CD of the same name . All 5 also appear on the Last Savoy Sessions 2-CD set along with an unissued track from that date that appeared on a Various Artists Savoy LP entitled Jazz is Busting Out All Over.

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Of the 7 tracks from this date , 3 are on the Last Savoy Sessions 2-CD set , and 4 are not available on CD .

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All 5 tracks from this date are on the Last Savoy Sessions 2-CD set .

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All 5 tracks from this date are on the Last Savoy Sessions 2-CD set .

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3 of the 7 tracks on this date are by the Yusef Lateef Sextet , the other 4 being by the A.K. Salim Octet . None of these tracks are on CD .

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So if the above is correct , it looks as though 12 tracks await a CD reissue .

The 6 Lateef-led dates also came out in the 70's on 3 different twofers entitled , Morning , Gong ! and Angel Eyes .

Here is the CDUniverse link to the Last Savoy Sessions CD .

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

wait wait wait what do you mean yusef on savoy. i dont have any of these. are these before he Prestiges?!? do they differ in style very much than his prestige/newjazz stuff.

[brownie]

wait wait wait what do you mean yusef on savoy.

Yusef Lateef recorded a number of albums for Savoy in the late fifties/early sixties. Chas posted the various covers.

Lateef was also leading album sessions for Prestige and Verve among others at the same time. Nothing essentially different in the various sessions. Most of them were very good!

Savoy reissued some of the sessions in that double CD

and announced there would be more to come. Still waiting for the others!

Edited August 23, 2006 by brownie

[paul secor]

I've mentioned this on at least one earlier thread, but it can't hurt to say it once more. Tenors of Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp, recorded in 1992 for Lateef's YAL label, contains very fine playing by both men.

[Head Man]

I've just been playimg 'The Centaur and the Phoenix' again this afternoon. What a terrific session by his nonet of: Clark Terry & Richard Williams (trumpets), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Josea Taylor (basoon), Tate Houston (baritone), Joe Zawinel (piano), Ben Tucker (bass) & lex Humphries (drums). The arrangements are top notch & the playing likewise.

Does anyone know if this is Yusef's only 'biggish' band recording?

[king ubu]

Bumping this back up... I always had the OJCs on second priority, simply because I believed Fantasy would keep them in print forever... now I was not only picking up just about anything I could on sale, but also trying to buy some stuff by artists that I wouldn't want to miss, be it at full prize or used or however I could lay hand on it (including all four Randy Weston OJCs). So in the meantime I picked up what I think is the complete run of 'teef's Prestige/New Jazz output (plus the one Riverside):

These are two 1957 albums, both done in one session. They feature Wilbur Harden, Hugh Lawson, Ernie Farrow and Oliver Jackson. They're pretty similar in mood to the 1957 Savoy material, but likely not quite as strong... the second one I got new (arrived yesterday, together with a legit copy of "Centaur" and "Three Faces", which I had before on an LP reissue called "This is YL" from dad). I think "Other Sounds" is by far the better of these two, with a bunch of awesome tracks, "All Alone" (opening track on tenor) and "Anastasia" (second track, with "world" intro and then some magic flute...). "Taboo" may be the highlight, done not as a Latin cut but with an arab/eastern moods prevailing. The last track, "Mahaba", is pretty unique for all his 55-65 output, as far as I know, with chanting and not much horns playing at all.

This one I got a few months ago, together with "Into Somethin'". It's probably the most "world" like of these early albums, with lots of flute and the first appearance of the oboe. Lonnie Hillyer (otherwise familiar only as a Mingus sidekick) is on trumpet here. Definitely a good one, but I haven't played it for a few weeks and can't give a detailled rundown.

(Can anyone explain the "bonus" cut with the 1957 quintet? nothing about it is said in the liners and the annotation isn't all that clear... where does it come from, exactly?)

This one has a larger band, with both Clark Terry (flugel, actually) and Richard Williams on trumpets and one Hosea Taylor on bassoon, providing two pretty nice solos. Joe Zawinul is on piano, somewhat flowery in spots, but doing great, in general! Curtis Fuller, an earlier member of the Lateef Quintet ("Before Dawn", "Jazz Moods", "Jazz for Thinkers") is on trombone, and Tate Houson on baritone. It's very welcome to hear a few more glimpses of the later, I enjoy the Curtis Fuller Blue Note album with him a lot!

The title tune is by a classical (?) composer, while the opening is an original by then 17 year old Kenny Barron, who also arranged a ballad/standard, "Ev'ry Day I Fall in Love". The "Centaur" is sort of mildly third-streamish, but it won't get too whymsical with Brother Yusef in charge, don't be afraid!

A great album and a bit of a departure from the usual quintet (and quartet later) line-ups, and highly welcome as such!

Oh, and as a bonus it includes two fun short cuts (Concord site says they were on a 45 originally, makes sense) with voices and lots of percussion backing Lateef.

No need to say much about this one - one of his crowning achievements, with Barry Harris on piano, no second horn, and a bunch of great tunes, including a sublimation of that kitsch bit, "Love Theme from 'Spartacus'" and a few other good things... Ernie Farrow and Lex Humphries round out the band.

Available now in an RVG reissue, I have the older one (need I upgrade?)

Another great one, featuring Elvin Jones on drums! Half of it is in trio (Herman Wright is on bass), few tracks, Barry Harris makes it a quartet. Another of his best ones, but I can't say much more, would have to play it again before... anyway, it's great to see Lateef again in a slight departure and having Elvin behind him, instead of his usual drummers (they're good, mind me, but they're not Elvin!).

This one features Lateef more or less equally on tenor, flute and oboe (hence the "three faces"). The band consists of Hugh Lawson, Herman Wright and Lex Humphries, with the addition of Ron Carter on cello. The opening tune (an arrangement of Dvorak's "Goin' Home") and Carter's presence, plus oboe and flute, let this get a bit third-streamish, too, in spots. Pretty interesting, and in fact quite different from the Lateef that explored eastern sounds on other albums of the same period. Standouts, for me, are the oboe tracks, including a great little blues!

The CD has a goof, btw: the date and studio given on the tray are different from what's given on the back of the booklet (I assume the later is correct, but haven't checked yet).

Edited March 2, 2007 by king ubu

[Niko]

thank you for this great write up... seems like i will have to try out a thirdstreamish one next (having eastern sounds, other sounds and into something...) i think the rvg of eastern sounds has been discussed somewhere else as having a very strange mix (a lot of treble?), i only know the rvg and love it though i do think (but don't know much about these things) that the bass sounds a little strange a lot of the time (listening to it right now, one of the records i keep at my office, perfect to calm oneself down and (mentally ) put things back where they belong)... what i want to say: other sonic upgrades may have higher priority...

[king ubu]

The use of third stream with respect to Lateef might be mis-leading, and I apologize for that, but that's what came to mind as a term to use, even though I'm not sure it actually applies. Add "ambitious", but that doesn't describe any style... anyway, it just applies to a few titles, there's bluesy playing and hardbop stuff on all these discs!

[Niko]

The use of third stream with respect to Lateef might be mis-leading, and I apologize for that, but that's what came to mind as a term to use, even though I'm not sure it actually applies. Add "ambitious", but that doesn't describe any style... anyway, it just applies to a few titles, there's bluesy playing and hardbop stuff on all these discs!

i like thirdstream (and could not let go that possibility to write the great word "thirdstreamish") and i like other lateef - even if it's not like the third stream i know (or not even third stream at all) i am on the safe side i think... (apropos lateef and third stream: yesterday i noticed that the strings on YL's Detroit were conducted (?) by William Fischer, Joe Zawinuls collaborator on "The rise and fall of third stream")

[jazzbo]

Flurin, I'm listening to the RVG of Eastern Sounds right now. . . . I really like it. But that doesn't mean you need to upgrade. It just means that the RVG sounds great. So does the OJC really in it's less flashy way.

[king ubu]

Flurin, I'm listening to the RVG of Eastern Sounds right now. . . . I really like it. But that doesn't mean you need to upgrade. It just means that the RVG sounds great. So does the OJC really in it's less flashy way.

I might still get the RVG... it has a differently coloured cover, so I can trick myself into believing it's a different record, right?

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

well, *I*, chewy, played the "last savoy sessions" cd set last night (only cd 1)

[jazzbo]

Flurin, I'm listening to the RVG of Eastern Sounds right now. . . . I really like it. But that doesn't mean you need to upgrade. It just means that the RVG sounds great. So does the OJC really in it's less flashy way.

I might still get the RVG... it has a differently coloured cover, so I can trick myself into believing it's a different record, right?

I see you know ALL the tricks!

[Bluesman]

When are they going to reissue A Flat, G Flat and C ???

[Shrdlu]

Great guy for a thread! Been into Lateef since the 60s, when he was on Cannonball's "In New York" album and injected a lot of life there.

Yusef's Impulses are great! Bluesman just mentioned "A Flat, G flat and C". That's an absolute classic! As soon as it ends, you want to spin it again, baby! So bluesy! Doesn't hurt to have Hugh Lawson on piano. Such deep blues! I hope it comes out on CD, but Impulse vinyl is easy to get on eBay, and Rudy's pressings sound so great. (If you don't already know, you want the first pressings, black and orange, or the second ones, black with a red ring. These both have the nice laminated gatefold covers.) This particular album gives a rare chance to hear Yusef on alto, plus, on the last track, he plays a special Japanese wood flute, for an unforgettably atmospheric end to the album.

I also really like "Jazz Around The World", with support from Richard Williams - but Lateef gets most of the solo space. There's a stunning oboe solo in the soprano sax vein, with a long note bent a quarter tone up! Wow! Can the guy ever play blues! On tenor, he really digs in on a version of "Frère Jaques" - Yusef's French Brother, ha!

Ya know, it might be easier to post his bad recordings. Would probably be an empty list!

[Kyo]

Savoy reissued some of the sessions in that double CD

and announced there would be more to come. Still waiting for the others!

While researching all kinds of Savoy releases I came upon this announced but

still unreleased compilation ("The First Savoy Sessions"?). I emailed Savoy Jazz

about this last week, still no reply. Maybe if we really get on their nerves about

it they'll... well, at least tell us to shut up or something!

I also told them that I'd be happy to see Donald Byrd's Long Green and

the Byrd/Jenkins album Star Eyes released on CD (both of those are

extended versions of earlier LPs and only those came out on CD,

each missing a track from the respective session).

[JamesJazz]

FWIW, Hosea Taylor is alive and well in Detroit, plays a few gigs, former music teacher in the Det school system. And Tate Houston was in the house band at the Blue Bird Inn, fine bari man.

Budd Johnson was the only tenor guy I heard get as much out of a blues as Yusef.

[Aggie87]

I recently received a copy of Autophysiopsychic from Conn (thx for the Conn-tribution!), and am playing it for the first time today.

The first few seconds caught me off guard, thinking I was going to hear a disco album. But after that it settled down into some decent funk, and it's a blast! It's defintely of it's time, but it's fun. Art Farmer has some nice phrases here and there as well.

[king ubu]

I recently received a copy of Autophysiopsychic from Conn (thx for the Conn-tribution!), and am playing it for the first time today.

The first few seconds caught me off guard, thinking I was going to hear a disco album. But after that it settled down into some decent funk, and it's a blast! It's defintely of it's time, but it's fun. Art Farmer has some nice phrases here and there as well.

Hm, I wasn't able to dig this one yet... played bits of it now and then, but never warmed to it, really.

[jazzbo]

Just played "Prayer to the East." Never tire of that one.

[sidewinder]

I recently received a copy of Autophysiopsychic from Conn (thx for the Conn-tribution!), and am playing it for the first time today.

The first few seconds caught me off guard, thinking I was going to hear a disco album. But after that it settled down into some decent funk, and it's a blast! It's defintely of it's time, but it's fun. Art Farmer has some nice phrases here and there as well.

Hm, I wasn't able to dig this one yet... played bits of it now and then, but never warmed to it, really.

I have a vinyl - played it once and relegated it to the vinyl bleachers where it has remained for some years. Maybe I should dig it out again?

[Aggie87]

Well, I'm certainly not comparing this to anything else he's done, but it's a fun album on it's on terms. I don't have that much Lateef, and I'm guessing this one is a left turn of sorts from what he'd done previously.

[jazzbo]

Actually, it's in line with his work contemporaneously about this time though perhaps a bit "much" so.

Sure shows his sense of humor to great effect!