Search - Yusef Lateef :: Centaur & The Phoenix

Great! (Sorry for the uncreative title!)

Andreas | Huntington Beach, CA | 08/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD more or less on a lark without much knowledge about the album or about Yusef Lateef. I really like this album. While basically in the hard bop vain, it has some avant-guarde touches, particularly in the harmonies and in the arrangment. It features a nine piece band including Clark Terry and Joe Zawinul. Nevertheless this album is very melodic. Lateef is a geat player on tenor sax and his flute playing is very beautiful, but what really stands out is his oboe playing. The mere fact that he's just about the only oboe virtuoso in jazz is interesting enough (I'm told it's a very difficult instrument to learn). Lateef was in his 30's and already had a recording career going when he took five years to study the oboe from a classical oboe master! "Every Day I Fall in Love", "Summer Song", and the hauntingly beautiful "Iqbal" particularly stand out. "Iqbal" also features Lateef on the Argol, and Indian double-reed instrument (akin to what snake charmers use.I certainly plan to check out a lot more of Yusef Lateef's music. I can also strongly recommend "Three Faces of Yusef Lateef" and "Eastern Sounds", but this is the one I like best of the three."