Yusef Lateef Plays Ballads

by Yusef Lateef

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Includes a PDF of the original CD Album Art & Liner Notes.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more

	1.	Night Songs 07:14
	2.	Beneath the Sky 03:47
	3.	Somewhere in the Forest 03:35
	4.	Twilight 04:40
	5.	Another Place 06:33
	6.	You are Me 04:43
	7.	You are Him 03:39
	8.	You are Them 10:17
	9.	Inscape 02:57
	10.	All are One 12:23

about

"These original ballads composed by Yusef Lateef and performed with the trio composed of Avery Sharp, Tom McClung and Stephen McCraven are in essence stylized forms of solo songs. And in all candor, it can be said that these ballads are narratives told in melodic, harmonic and rhythmical verse. These narratives deal with a variety of concepts, feelings and realizations as are reflected in the titles of each song. As well, the structuring process of each song form embodied a variety of elements not previously employed by the composer. The songs have artistic elaboration and poetic refinement, which deals with both conceptual subjects that are empirical and philosophical subjects. The forms of the songs are free combinations of the strophic and through composed types, ornamented with lyrical, creative and masterful improvisation by each musician, thus justifying the title "Ballads."
- Yusef Lateef

"This collection of ballads by Dr. Yusef Lateef, musical gentle giant and unrecognized lyrical genius of the late-20th century, breaks the boundary between the poetic and the musical. The elegance and spiritual truth in these ballads comes shining through in how deliberately this band works with Lateef to let the songs speak for themselves without unnecessary embellishment. The result is one Lateef's most aesthetically beautiful outings, and that's saying plenty given his body of work."
- Thom Jurek, allmusic.com

credits

released October 23, 2022

Yusef Lateef – Tenor Saxophone
Stephen McCraven – Drums
Tom McClung – Piano
Avery Sharpe – Bass
Adam Rudolph – Percussion

Produced by Yusef Lateef
Original Recording – Norman Blain
Mix and Mastering – Norman Blain
Digital Mastering by Toby Mountain
Recorded at Moonstar Media
December 1992, Leverett, MA
Art direction and cover design by Ralph Seaman
Cover Photo by Hans Harzhelm

license

about

Yusef Lateef

Yusef Lateef was a Grammy Award-winning composer, performer, recording artist, author, visual artist, educator and philosopher who was a major force on the international musical scene for more than six decades.

He was named an American Jazz Master in the year 2010 by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Until his passing on December 23, 2013 at age 93, Yusef remained a vital and active artist. ... more

yuseflateef.com

contact / help

Contact Yusef Lateef

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Yusef Lateef, you may also like:

Living Sky
by Sun Ra Arkestra

supported by 4 fans who also own “Yusef Lateef Plays Ballads”

Grateful that the spirit known as Sun Ra is being kept alive, sailing ever further into the cosmos. This album is filled with interstellar beauty. Larry Looney
go to album
SOURCE
by Nubya Garcia

supported by 4 fans who also own “Yusef Lateef Plays Ballads”

Smooth and virtuosic, uplifting jazz that soars and glitters when it's not grooving along in some heavy dub. Tom Colquhoun
go to album
Nubya's 5ive
by Nubya Garcia

supported by 4 fans who also own “Yusef Lateef Plays Ballads”

The alternate take got so much groove, can't believe it, how well the fit together. :) bjoernbaldes
go to album
Zacks Nkosi
by Zacks Nkosi

featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 16, 2021
go to album
Elephant Parade
by SUN HOP FAT

featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 20, 2018
go to album
Liminal Space
by Ill Considered

featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 14, 2021
go to album
Zubatto Syndicate
by Zubatto Syndicate

With a stylish, fold-out image by science-fiction artist Franco Brambilla on the album cover, we are introduced to the world of Zubatto Syndicate – at once quaint, modern, post-modern, and otherworldly. Pastel-toned robots from the future have arrived in 1961, and they are ready to hang out by the lake. The retro-futurist aesthetic of the … Continue reading Album of the Week: Zubatto Syndicate → Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 12, 2011
go to album