Yusef-Lateef
Yusef Lateef Receives International Achievement Award

Yusef Lateef Receives International Achievement Award

By Dee Dee McNeil

ArtServe Michigan Honors Dr. Lateef

On November 13th, at the 16th Annual Governor’s Awards for Arts & Culture, ArtServe Michigan honored Dr. Lateef with their International Achievement Award. Held at the Detroit Institute of Art, this is their primary, gala, fundraising event. Pretty people dressed in tailored black suits, tuxedos, sparkling after-five and flowing Afro-centric garb all crowded together to compliment the rich roster of creative artists that ArtServe awarded. The evening was spiced with film clip documentaries of each Awardee, displayed on the auditorium big screen. Watch for these to be run on Detroit Public Television’s BackStage Pass show in the near future. The evenings’ Mistress of Ceremonies was the very pretty and prolific Ann Delisi, weekly host of Backstage Pass. In the orchestra pit, a tasty band played jazzy introduction music. I recognized Chris Codish on keyboards.

Before the Trophy was presented to Yusef Lateef, Donald Walden’s Quartet took stage center in musical tribute. On piano was Kenny Cox; on bass, Don Mayberry, with Bert Myrick on drums. They played Donald Walden’s original composition of “Dizzy With Love.” Then Kim Heron, Metro Times Editor and disc jockey on Detroit's Public Radio Station (WDET) spoke a few poetic and sincere words about Dr. Lateef.

Yusef Recognizes Mentor, Matthew Rucker

Upon accepting his award, Yusef acknowledged an old friend and thanked Detroit’s own Matthew Rucker, who was in the audience.

“I want to thank Matthew Rucker for giving me the chance to play in a big band. At that time, I was very grateful for the chance to play. “ He recalled.

What Charlie Parker Taught Him

In 1942 was the first time I heard Charlie Parker. I had never heard an alto sax sound like that. The message is - look! I’m like myself. So when I heard him, I see that it’s possible for me to be myself. I’m always searching. I’m trying to fashion my personna. Searching for the unknown.”

He also expressed appreciation to ArtServe and the Art community of Michigan for their struggle to keep Art and Culture alive and well.

“Culture is an all embracing development and the sum total of a peoples skill.” He reminded us.

Chalk White Lipstick and Banlon Shirts

Back in the days of chalk-white lipstick, black banlon shirts with alligators crawling across the pocket and heavy black eyeshadow, I was smitten with the music of Yusef Lateef. Too young to get into bars, I found my niche (along with several other so-called Beatniks) inside the Bohemian atmosphere of the Minor Key. At that time, it was THE jazz coffee house and a very popular, cultural spot in Detroit. I was awe inspired, listening to the jazz sounds of Elvin Jones, Yusef Lateef, Miles, and so many others. I’d drink coffee all night and see these legends up close and personal. At that time, Yusef was bringing a whole new sound to reed instruments and to the music world. His approach was uniquely his own. He really was skirting the edges of World Music. This was long before World Music was coined as a popular category. Plus, there was that shocking way he played Oboe. From the start, Yusef just didn’t sound like any other reedman I had ever heard. His approach and style has remained uniquely his own for the past several decades.

Love Affair with Blues & Education

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his parents transplanted to Detroit when little Bill Evans was only four years old. So you might as well say he’s a native of the Motor City. He began playing saxophone at Miller High School. In the early 1950’s, he studied composition and flute at Wayne State University. But he really got his feet wet, walking on water with musical prophets like Roy Eldridge, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Curtis Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie and Hot Lips page. Around this same time, he adopted his Muslim name of Yusef Lateef. Yusef adopted something else too. It was a definite affinity for incorporating other cultures into his music.

Yusef Introduces World Music

Interviewed by Chris Slawecki of Jazz Magazine and Resource Yusef said, “Well, what they’re calling 'world music' now, I started in 1956, ’55. It came about because when I got my first contract with Savoy Records, I realized that if I was to continue recording that I had to expand the canvas of my presentations. So I started studying the music of other cultures in the middle ‘50s. … perhaps I ws one of the first, maybe the first, to do it in America.”

In the 1960’s, he was an important part of the Cannonball Adderly Quintet. Yusef worked with Charlie Mingus too, but it was only a matter of time before he became a bandleader and formed his own unit. One of his great musical relationships was with Detroit’s very own pianist reknowned, Barry Harris; another was with Kenny Barron. With experimentation and experience, Yusef Lateef began to develop that beautiful, culturally diverse sound. It seemed held together with a sticky, rot-gut-blues base; a musical glue as deep as the history of Detroit’s Paradise Valley and as blue as Blackbottom basement parties. Yes - this writer would have to say that one of Yusef’s life-long love affairs seems to be with ‘the Blues’. The other is with knowledge and wisdom.

Dr. Lateef has been a constant seeker of educational enrichment. He has an Educational Doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He currently teaches at that University and also at Smith College. In addition to his Wayne State days, he also studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Yusef Lateef Labels his Music: Autophysiopsychic

As a clarification of recent statements in the press from Yusef Lateef, statements that he does not play Jazz, he responded from the stage. He told the audience that one day he looked in the dictionary for Webster’s take on the word Jazz. He was appalled at the references to America's cultural art form, claiming Jazz meant 'to copulate'. I can tell you the audience was stunned by this strange revelation! He referred to a number of other uncomplimentary meanings that had been referenced. I couldn’t wait to get home and check out my dictionary. Sure enough, there were meanings listed under Jazz like 'nonsense' and 'animation'. Consequently, Yusef said he re-labeled his music Autophysiopsychic. That is to say, he explained, "... music that comes from the mental, physical and spiritual self". Whatever you call it Dr. Lateef, your music is, and continues to be, one of God’s great blessings on Earth.

At the end of the evening, the crowd rose to their feet in homage to a man who spent most of his early years in the bosom of Detroit's music scene. We pulled Yusef Lateef to our hearts with applause. The standing ovation, and his International Achievement Award, seemed only appropriate for a master musician, whose music, compositions, professorships and mentoring has touched lives all over the world.

Note: This article scheduled to appear in the Michigan Chronicle - week of November 28, 2001

 
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