This album is another classic jazz album and that will only open your eyes even further concerning Yusef Lateef’s abilities. Although it was recorded in 1957, it hangs right there and very comfortably with Mingus’ early avant-garde jazz works. The addition of Curtis Fuller adds the extra layer that helps it cross over from just being straight forward hard bop, but it stays right on that line as if it were walking on a tight wire. Lateef is a true artist in “Jazz Moods” as he composed every song also. Amazing music, very inventive, a must have, enjoy!
Note: Yusef Lateef recently passed away at the age of 93 on last December 23, 2013.
About the Album:
Yusef Lateef, who is still active today at age 90, is a quiet innovator. Although he first emerged as a tenor-saxophonist with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band in the late 1940s, his musical interests have long stretched beyond both jazz and the tenor. Lateef grew up in Detroit and, after his stint with Gillespie, he stayed there until 1959, studying music and becoming a major part of the local scene. By the time he began recording as a leader in 1955, Lateef had developed into a masterful flute player and he would soon add oboe while stretching from jazz into what would be called World Music (particularly the folk music of the Mideast), while never losing his ability to swing hard. While Lateef had stints with Charles Mingus……Read More
