Customer Reviews

Eastern Sounds

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4 star:		(2)
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Yusef Lateef's Eastern Sounds is a classic album from the 1960's that was a firm favourite with both jazz fans and flower children. In fact, I first encountered it when it was given to me by a hippy chick who performed wonderfully sensuous ad-lib dances to it. But it remains a jazz album with a nicely exotic flavour and it has been re-mastered to sound better than ever.

Lateef plays a variety of reed instruments backed by a traditional rhythm section of piano/drums/bass. The music ranges from originals to a couple of film themes which, in Lateef's hands, become minor revelations. In fact, my favourite track is his version of the Love Theme from Spartacus - partly for the way that Lateef manages to turn the oboe into a seductive jazz instrument, but mostly for Barry Harris's lyrical piano that effortlessly fuses progression and melody. Indeed, Harris was a major factor in the success of this album and his talent deserved much wider recognition.

Still, Eastern Sounds remains Lateef's moment - and an incredibly shining moment it is. The music is as fresh and refreshing today as it was on the day it was recorded. And it will appeal to many people who do not normally consider themselves to be jazz fans. Listeners who already know Lateef will need little convincing to buy this CD. I would recommend it to everyone - to be listened to in a relaxed environment of candles and incense.

This recording has held up so well over time due to the wonderful musicianship of Lateef and Barry Harris. There is indeed an "eastern" feel to Lateef's playing here but the jazz quartet format is still rooted in post -bop improvisation. Lateef is able to evoke emotion from each instrument he plays and the ballads are some of the most soulful and beautifully played to be found anywhere. At times his playing reminds me of Coltrane's softer side. Overall this is a CD to enjoy again and again.

This adventurous set of music offers a change of pace not only from your average jazz album, but from track to track. The cd opens with the airy oriental flavored "The Plum Blossom". On this track Lateef plays a Chinese globular flute that has a mere five note range, and displays his inventiveness on this ancient instrument as he constructs a lovely solo within the strict range. The exotic flavor is carried over into "Blues Fot the Orient", which features Lateef's oboe. This is one of the rarest of all solo instruments in jazz, and Lateef somehow manages to mix a disinctly oriental theme with an effective 4/4 blues. "Chinq Miau" features Lateef's tenor as he makes use of the chinese scale lending it's name to the track's title, constructing another thoughtful effective solo with an eastern flair. Lateef also makes use of more conventional jazz vehicals like, "Don't Blame Me" and "Love Theme from Spartacus" that are ballad standards featuring sensitive tenor and oboe interpretations respectively. The exotic final track "The Three Faces of Balal" features Lateef on a haunting European flute. The supporting cast is solid whith Lex Humphries on drums and Ernie Harris on bass and rabat, a stringed instrument which sounds like a plucked rubber band stretched around a kleenex box. Barry Harris is a fine pianist but sounds lost and out of place at times. This is a great cd for people looking for an introduction to Yusef Lateef's mastery of multiple instruments, or just new sounds in a jazz setting.

If you are going to buy a Yusef Lateef album, this is the one to get. It blends an amazing sense of experimentation with the cool, structured sound that Lateef knows like the back of his hand.

All the solos are amazing, in particular Lateef's. Among the more memorable songs are the two love themes, "Snafu", and "Blues For The Orient", although perhaps the freshest and catchiest track is "The Plum Blossom," a smooth, beautiful introduction to the album highlighted by Barry Harris' gorgeous piano language, tabla-like percussion, and Lateef in all his glory.

Upon first listen, Eastern Sounds may seem to be a little bit too much of an exoticization for Lateef to mold well - but the album grows on listeners like nothing else he has done.

That's right! One of the 30 greatest and I've got hundereds of them in my collection! And I'll bet you, you never even heard of it! Yusef Lateef is all over the place on this classic record. He composed 6 of the 9 brilliant compositions himself and rendered timeless versions of the 3 tracks that he covered.

I defy any jazz fan to find a more beautiful improvisation than Lateef's oboe flights on "Love Theme from Spartacus." He takes a well-known tune here and refines it about 10 levels higher than anyone else ever could.

Or for that matter, I defy anyone to find more beautiful tenor playing on a ballad than on "Blame Me."

Lateef also plays that instrument, mind you. He plays flute, oboe, and tenor sax, all better than most 'great' players ever learn to play one instrument. The arrangments are all top-notch and progressive (tunes in unusual meters such as 5/4 and 6/8), the rhythm is often tabla rather than drums, bringing even more of an 'eastern' feel to the proceedings.

If you're a jazz fan and you don't have this record, you surely must've been sleeping for the past 40 years! BUY IT NOW or suffer a permanent lack!

I bought the LP in '63 and recently discovered the CD. It's just as enjoyable as it was sitting between the speakers in my parents' house. From the simple but elegant "Plum Blossom" through the orient-flavored blues tunes, the ambiance is pure Yusef Lateef...who could not float toward the ceiling with his oboe improvising on "Love Theme from Spartacus"? Thirty-seven years ago I learned to play it on the piano and it's still one of my favs. This is an album for quiet reflection or making love on a summer afternoon.....and still a gem.

Yusef's ability to offer a perfectly executed musical note, one that resonates to the depths of your soul, is in itself evidence of the Creator's handiwork. His offering on this recording is sheer beauty.
When Yusef plays a simple melody, he makes each note, each phrse speak volumes. When he plays "out", he is not like most who sound like they're searching for something: he found it. He knows what he's doing.
A truly civilized nation would recognize him as a national treasure.

THERE ARE A FEW THINGS I HAVE ALWYAS LIKED ABOUT THE MUSIC OF YUSEF LATEEF. THE FIRST THING IS THAT HE PLAYS MELODIES, NOT JUST A LOT OF "NOTES". ANOTHER THING IS THAT HIS VISION OF MUSIC NEVER HAD ANY BOUNDARIES AS FAR AS STYLE OR CONTEXT. HE IS ON EOF THE EARLIEST JAZZ MUSICIANS TO EXPLORE MUSIC FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND HE COULD STILL PLAY A MEAN BALLAD , TOO (CHECK OUT "BLUES FOR THE ORIENT"). HE WAS NEVER AFRAID TO I HAVE A LOT OF HIS OLD RECORDS AND THIS ONE IS TRULY EXCEPTIONAL, ONE OF HIS BEST. YUSEF LATEEF AND RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK WERE SIMILAR IN THAT THEY BOTH PLAYED A LOT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, AND PLAYED EVERYTHING FROM DIXIELAND, RAGTIME, BE-BOP, BALLADS, MORE MODERN MUSIC, AND "WORLD MUSIC". RANDY WESTON, TOO, BUT HE PLAYS KEYBOARDS.

This whole CD is absolutely wonderful. The Eastern timbred melodies are so hauntingly beautiful that they strike the very core of one's being. "Love Theme from Spartacus" is one of my all time favorite Jazz recordings ever, and I was so pleased to find it on this CD after searching for over 20 years in record stores around the world. Everyone should have this CD in their collection, if only to listen to that one song over and over and over and over again!

First time I heard Yusef Lateef
was when I stumble upon his
Eastern Sound cd. Just blew me
away. He had other soloists
on there, but Yusef grab your
attention and held from beginning
to end. A gem are the following
Yusef albums:

1/ Eastern Sound
2/ African American Epic Suite
3/ Blue Yusef Lateef

Amazing master: simple, clear,
hypnotic playing thru and thru!