Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the
Ahmadiyya Community
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
in America.
Although Lateef's main instruments were the tenor saxophone and
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
, both rare in jazz, and non-western instruments such as the bamboo flute,
shanai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.shofar, xun, arghul and
koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* ...
. He is known for having been an innovator in the blending of jazz with " Eastern" music. Peter Keepnews, in his '' New York Times'' obituary of Lateef, wrote that the musician "played world music before world music had a name".
Lateef's books included two novellas 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 owned Fana Music, a music publishing company. Lateef published his own work through Fana, which includes ''Yusef Lateef's Flute Book of the Blues'' and many of his own orchestral compositions.
Biography
Early life and career
Lateef was born in
Chattanooga
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
, Tennessee as William Emanuel Huddleston. His family moved, in 1923, to
Lorain
Lorain may refer to:
Places
* Lorain, Ohio
* Lorain, Pennsylvania
* Lorain, Wisconsin
* Lorain County, Ohio
** Lorain County Community College
* Lorain Township, Minnesota
People
* René Lorain (born 1900), French athlete
* Sophie Lorain, C ...
, Ohio, and again in 1925, to Detroit, Michigan, where his father changed the family's name to Evans.
Throughout his early life, Lateef came into contact with many Detroit-based jazz musicians who gained prominence, including vibraphonist
Milt Jackson
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...
, 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 the age of 18, when he launched his professional career and began touring with a number of
swing
Swing or swinging may refer to:
Apparatus
* Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth
* Pendulum, an object that swings
* Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus
* Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse
* Swing rid ...
bands. The first instrument he bought was an alto saxophone but after a year he switched to the tenor saxophone, influenced by the playing of Lester Young.
In 1949, he was invited by
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
to tour with his orchestra. In 1950, Lateef returned to Detroit and began his studies in composition and flute at Wayne State University.
It was during this period that he converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music.
In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music.
...
, 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 (trumpet, flugelhorn), bassist
Herman Wright
Herman Wright was a jazz bassist. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1932, and, in 1960, moved to New York City, where he resided until his death in 1997.
He began on drums as a teen before ultimately settling on upright bass. He worked with Doro ...
, drummer Frank Gant, and pianist Hugh Lawson were among his collaborators during this period. In 1960, they played an extended gig at the Minor Key, a non-alcoholic club at Dexter and Burlingame in Detroit.
By 1961, with the recording of ''
Into Something
''Into Something'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, recorded in 1961 and released on the New Jazz label.
'' and ''
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 Middle Eastern music, which were incorporated into his version of hard bop with a q ...
'', 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
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.arghul,
koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* ...
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. Lateef made numerous contributions to other people's albums, including during his period as a member of saxophonist
Cannonball Adderley
Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.
Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...
's Quintet during 1962–64.
In the late 1960s, he began to incorporate contemporary soul and gospel phrasing into his music (albeit with a strong blues underlay) on albums such as '' Detroit'' and ''
Hush 'N' Thunder
''Hush 'N' Thunder'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef recorded in 1972 and released on the Atlantic label.
'', presaging the emergence of
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
. Lateef 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. In the 1980s, Lateef experimented with
new-age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
and spiritual elements.
In 1960, Lateef returned to school, studying flute at the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...
in New York City. He received a bachelor's degree in music in 1969 and a master's degree in
music education
Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...
in 1970. Starting in 1971, he taught courses in "autophysiopsychic music" at the Manhattan School of Music, and he became an
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
Overview
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...
at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in 1972.
In 1975, Lateef received an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst; his dissertation was a comparative study of Western and Islamic education. Thereafter, Lateef served as a senior research fellow at the Center for Nigerian Cultural Studies at Ahmadu Bello University throughout the early 1980s. Returning to the United States in 1986, he took a joint faculty appointment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hampshire College.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
.
In 2005, Nicolas Humbert & Werner Penzel, directors of ''Step Across The Border'', filmed Brother Yusef, in his wooden house in the middle of a forest in Massachusetts. In 2010 he received the lifetime Jazz Master Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an independent federal agency. Established in 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award is the highest honor given in jazz.
The Manhattan School of Music, where Lateef had earned a bachelor's and a master's degree, awarded Lateef its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012.
Lateef's last albums were recorded for Adam Rudolph's Meta Records. To the end of his life, he continued to teach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
, and Hampshire College in western Massachusetts. Lateef died of prostate cancer on the morning of December 23, 2013, at the age of 93, survived by his wife, Ayesha, and son, Yusef.
Following his death, Lateef's family auctioned off many of his instruments, in the hopes that they would continue to be played. Woodwind player Jeff Coffin purchased Lateef's main tenor saxophone as well as his
bass flute
The bass flute is a member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Despite its name, its playing range makes it the tenor member of the flute family. Because of the length of its tube (approximate ...
.
In October 2020, the UMass Fine Arts Center celebrated the centenary of Lateef's birth by producing "Yusef Lateef: A Centenary Celebration," a major online exhibit of his work curated by Glenn Siegel and others. The centenary includes "100 Responses to Yusef Lateef," a series of video tributes by many prominent artists and former Lateef collaborators and students.
Discography
Personal life
Lateef said what he remembered most about his childhood was "My passion for nature."
In 1980, Lateef declared that he would no longer perform any place where alcohol was served. In 1999, he said: "Too much blood, sweat and tears have been spilled creating this music to play it where people are smoking, drinking and talking."
Lateef's first wife, Tahira, predeceased him, as did a son and a daughter.
A. B. Spellman
Alfred Bennett Spellman (born 1935) is a poet, music critic, and arts administrator. Considered a part of the Black Arts movement, he first received attention for his book of poems entitled ''The Beautiful Days'' (1965). In 1966, he published a b ...