{"product_id":"yusef-lateef-psychicemotus-verve-by-request","title":"Yusef Lateef – Psychicemotus (Verve By Request Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c!--StartFragment --\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf0\"\u003ePsychicemotus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf0\"\u003e: Yusef Lateef’s 1966 exploration: An album whose intellectual foundation never compromises its emotive intimacy or, crucially, its swing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf0\"\u003ePsychicemotus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf0\"\u003e may be the quintessential Yusef Lateef album title \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e– a word of his own invention referencing the symbiotic parts of his practice: the cerebral (psychic) and the emotional (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eemotus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e). A multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, scholar\/educator, author and visual artist, Lateef (1920-2013) emerged from the fertile Detroit bebop lineage that produced luminaries like Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd, Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes and Dorothy Ashby. His thirst for knowledge and spiritual perspective, however, was uniquely his own. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eIn 1948 he converted to the Islamic Ahmadiyya Movement and changed his name (from William Emmanuel Huddleston), while embracing an array of non-Western instruments and infusing global harmonic scales and exotic \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003etimbric\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e textures into his work. One early on-the-nose album title, 1957’s Jazz For the Thinker, reflected this studied approach. But Lateef would come to reject “jazz,” believing it a demeaning descriptor from outside the culture. Instead he preferred another one of his neologisms, “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eautophysiopsychic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e music.” And if the term never quite caught on, his definition was indisputably easy to understand: “This word means music from one’s physical, spiritual and mental self, i.e., music from the heart.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eIt also well describes \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003ePsychicemotus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e, an album whose intellectual foundation never compromises its emotive intimacy or crucially, its swing. Lateef heads up a quartet completed by bassist Reggie Workman, pianist Georges \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eArvanitas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e, and drummer James Black. On a fast-paced burner like “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eSemiocto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e” led by Lateef’s tenor, they’re positively classic-Coltrane-quartet-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eesque\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e in passion and precision. While Lateef’s synthesis of influences informs everything herein, James Black – New Orleans-born and imbued with the city’s second line rhythmic heritage – steps out as the unit’s kinetic engine. The title cut, a sublime conversation in syncopation dominated by Workman’s elastic bass, Lateef’s flute and Black’s drums, is particularly animated by the latter’s genius command of dynamics. The group’s interplay is equally compelling on more reflective material. “Bamboo Flute Blues” pays direct homage to NOLA funeral parades, Lateef playing bluesy long tones on an F pentatonic scale flute of his own design while Black taps the snare with his fingertips. It’s surpassed in gentle beauty here only by “First \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003eGymnopedie\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf1\"\u003e,” a flute treatment of a late-1800s piece by influential French composer Erik Satie accented by tom-tom, cymbal, and rimshots that’s fondly reminiscent of Lateef’s beloved 1961 reading of “Love Theme From ‘Spartacus.’”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf2\"\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf2\"\u003eMedula\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf2\"\u003e Sonata” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e– the track that really puts the psychic in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003ePsychicemotus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e – is the LP’s most ambitious and unconventional piece. A kind of abstract brainstem\/anatomical score with Indian bells as a prominent texture, its improvised exchanges between Lateef’s tenor and the rest of the players evokes the subtle spontaneity of nerve signals abuzz. By contrast, takes on Great American Songbook standards like “Why Do I Love You,” and “I’ll Always Be in Love With You” are simply gorgeous reminders of the romantic warmth of Lateef’s tenor.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eEver the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eunpinnable\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e leader, Lateef concludes the program with one last curveball, shining a solo spotlight on pianist \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eArvanitas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e for Fats Waller’s “Ain’t \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eMisbehavin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e’.” Whether Lateef intended it as such or not, the French import\/son of Greek \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eparents’s\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e dexterous interpretation of the legendary Harlemite’s classic serves as a fitting coda – a testimony to the music’s fundamental humanity. “I’m very glad to be in America and to learn new things musically!” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003eArvanitas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e practically glows in a quote from the album’s original liner notes. Under Yusef Lateef’s tutelage he could not have enjoyed a better teacher.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cf3\"\u003e— (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.udiscovermusic.com\/stories\/yusef-lateef-psychicemotus-feature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eLabel\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c!--EndFragment --\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e—\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003ePsychicemotus \u003c\/em\u003ewas released in 1965 and features Yusef Lateef on various flutes and tenor saxophone, \u003c\/span\u003eGeorges Arvanitas\u003cspan\u003e on piano, bassist \u003c\/span\u003eReggie Workman\u003cspan\u003e, and drummer \u003c\/span\u003eJames Black\u003cspan\u003e. And while the \u003c\/span\u003eColtrane\u003cspan\u003e era of modal and free jazz was in full swing, Lateef always followed his own muse, and continued looking forward while looking back to ancient musics. His use of bamboo and Chinese wood flutes on the title track and \"Bamboo Flute Blues\" added not only dimension and texture, but rhythmic invention to standard jazz forms. Yet his readings of \u003c\/span\u003eJerome Kern\u003cspan\u003e's and \u003c\/span\u003eOscar Hammerstein\u003cspan\u003e's \"Why Do I Love You,\" on which he plays tenor, swings elegantly while incorporating both hard bop and angular outside playing in his solo. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eArvanitas\u003cspan\u003e is a near perfect foil for Lateef in that while he's not as technically flashy as \u003c\/span\u003eBarry Harris\u003cspan\u003e, he is a deeply sympathetic player who uses accents and ostinati as grounding points, and prefigures rhythmic changes rather than just comping. The beautiful reading of \u003c\/span\u003eErik Satie\u003cspan\u003e's \"First Gymnopedie\" on which Lateef plays flute is an utterly beautiful, restrained, and adventurous reading, and is allowed to resonate rhythmically with hand-percussion fills by \u003c\/span\u003eBlack\u003cspan\u003e. While not Lateef's finest recording for Impulse (Live at Pep's takes the —cake), it certainly is a worthy and memorable one. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/album\/psychicemotus-mw0000394977\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eAllMusic\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e—\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eVerve By Request Series\u003c\/em\u003e features transfers from the analog tapes remastered on 180-gram vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e—\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4UqqaK6LJahK6O4dbSTEKP?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Verve Records, UMe, Impulse!\u003cbr\u003eSeries: Verve By Request\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Gatefold\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2023 \/ Original Release: 1965\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Jazz\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Post Bop, Modal, Free Jazz\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Jazz \/\/ Jazz - Saxophone\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Verve \/ Impulse!","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42683810644126,"sku":"602455212382","price":48.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/products\/verlp21238__55212.jpg?v=1690791631","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/yusef-lateef-psychicemotus-verve-by-request","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}