Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and polymath
Yusef Lateef enjoyed a long, varied career that spanned many changes in music. While he rejected the word as vulgar, he never rejected the form.
Lateef played hard bop in Detroit during the 1950s, explored global folk and classical musical traditions and "the new thing" during the '60s, and in the '70s, his long tenure with
Atlantic was defined by change and discovery.
The tapes of this gig, captured in July 1972 at the Cloitre des Celestins in Avignon, languished in the vaults of INA (Institue de National d'Audiovisuel in Paris) until being discovered by the
Elemental label's bosses. They were produced for release by
Zev Feldman.
Lateef's quartet included pianist
Kenny Barron, bassist
Bob Cunningham, and drummer
Albert "Tootie" Heath (who passed three weeks before this was released).
The music here ranges across blues, ballads, hard bop, and modal improvisation.
Barron's strident opener, "Inside Atlantis," offers an angular hard bop head pairing tenor sax with driving piano chords as
Heath and
Cunningham play double time.
Lateef's solo showcases his trademark muscular tone, gritty honk, and gloriously fleet harmonic ideas, and
Barron impresses by creating ad hoc chord voicings alongside it. They follow with "A Flower," a lyrical flute and piano duet composed by
Barron. It's answered two cuts later by "Lowland Lullaby," a duet by
Cunningham and
Heath with the latter playing an Indian flute. The track between, the raucous "Yusef's Mood," finds
Lateef in fine, swaggering honk and shout in the instrument's lower register.
Barron nearly steals the show with his offering of a short history of blues and stride piano. The rhythm section frames it in an uptempo shuffle. The second half of the disc begins with
Roy Brooks' "Eboness," a slinky modal blues penned for 1970's
The Diverse Yusef Lateef.
Barron's gospelized groove is framed by
Cunningham's funky vamp and
Heath's swinging shuffle.
Lateef explores eastern modalities while scatting and growling through his flute. The quartet relaxes with a long, introspective, tender reading of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." They close with
Barron's 25-minute "The Untitled." It begins as a hard bop stomp with a canny solo from
Lateef, who duels with
Cunningham in a breathtaking exchange. Five minutes in, the tune strips down to a skeleton before interactive group improvisation.
Cunningham plays arco drones and
Lateef creeps in with ballast and open questions in response. The piano joins in at nine minutes, adding fragmental, circular melodies; halfway in,
Heath completes the melodies as they start to shift outside before he joins for a bop-esque sprint in the final third.
Atlantis Lullaby is a top-notch, inspiring gig played by a stellar band. As is typical of
Feldman projects, the package is full of photographs, liner essays by the producer/critic
Shannon Effinger and
Lateef's widow
Ayesha, as well as tributes and reminiscences by
Barron,
Heath,
Adam Rudolph,
Joe Lovano,
Reggie Workman,
Tia Fuller,
Sonny Rollins, and Detroit-born saxophonists
James Carter and
Bennie Maupin. This is an essential addition to
Lateef's shelf. ~ Thom Jurek
![Jurassic Park [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0008811085926_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Jurassic Park [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]")
