Gentle Giant

Yusef Lateef | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000002I65
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #503,577 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > World Music > Africa > Zimbabwe

Editorial Reviews

Damn funky Yusef Lateef! The record's one of Lateef's best on Atlantic -- as it combines the funky style the label was working him in, with some of the more complicated, tripped-out styles he was forging on earlier records. The standout cut is the long take on Kenny Barron's "Nubian Lady" which begins the record -- and Kenny also contributed the tighter grooving "Jungle Plum". Other tracks include "African Song", "Queen Of The Night", "Poor Fishermen", "Below Yellow Bell", and a strange version of "Hey Jude" that goes on for a long time, and really messes with the volume -- listed on the cover with the note "Do not adjust the playback level on your audio equipment -- readjust your mind!" --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lowrider Jazz?, January 14, 2003

By 

John J. Knapik "johnknapik" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gentle Giant (Audio CD)

The song "Nubian Lady" is classic slow r&b jazz. The song reminds me of driving around the ghetto at 3AM on a warm summer night. With windows down you creep from street to street taking in the nightly sights, sounds, and smells. The rest of the disc falls into the same r&b jazz category...some of it with an exotic feel. My only complaint is the cover of "Hey Jude".... it's simply awful. The sound quality is so bad that the inlay card for the CD says "Dont adjust your sound system, adjust your mind." I found it easier to adjust by skipping this track entirely. This album sounds very dated but that adds to the value of this music. The flutes and the electric piano are so tight. There are some strange vocals on a few songs but they aren't lyrical. These vocals only add to the dark ghetto mystique of this disc. Dont be afraid to check this out.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice auto-physio-psychic music played by the greatest ever, August 29, 1999

By 

Aaron Wolfe - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gentle Giant (Audio CD)

Check this out! Matter of fact check out every single Yusef Lateef release in the catalog. Beginners should purchase "Every Village has a song" others should move on to "The man with the big Back yard" BUY IT BUY IT!!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended....., July 15, 2008

By 

John McKinna (Key Largo, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gentle Giant (Audio CD)

Great album. Accessible flute-based playing (+ Yusef's trademark battery of oddball wind instruments). One caveat, and I will not dock a star in the rating for this: the loud, long, distortion-sound version of Hey Jude is redolent of its time, probably a necessary pop inclusion to make the record company happy, and the one cut on the album that I always jump past because the sheer shrill, grating quality of the piece simply annoys my fifty-year-old ears. The late 60s and early 70s are over...and this distorted approach to music, while fashionable in its day, frankly, sucked then and it sucks now. However, buy this album for the stellar, accessible Lateef compositions and playing on all the other cuts. Excellent, and always on my listen list.