26 October 2009

Yusef Lateef with Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart and Adam Rudolph - live in Minneapolis 2008



YUSEF LATEEF
ROSCOE MITCHELL
DOUGLAS EWART
ADAM RUDOLPH

Walker Art Center
McGuire Theater
Minneapolis, MN
6 December 2008

Some more Yusef Lateef coming up, but 47 years removed from the previous posting with the Mingus Jazz Workshop at Birdland and in a totally different setting. This is Lateef with percussionist Adam Rudolph, a collaborator over many years. Added is Roscoe Mitchell, saxophonist with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Douglas Ewart, Minneapolis-based multi-instrumentalist and instrument maker, the latter two long-time members of Chicago's famed AACM.

The meeting-up was instigated by Ewart who saw a connection between the AACM's explorations of sound beyond the jazz idiom and Lateef's musical studies of the cultures of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, his fascination for home-made instruments and found objects and his combination of music with poetry and recitations.

For Lateef, jazz is an odious word. "Jazz is defined as doggerel, skullduggery, poppycock, coquetry, sexual intercourse. It has nothing to do with what I do. After I graduated from the Manhattan School of Music I was asked to teach a course in the theory department and I had to name the course, so I called it autophysiopsychic music. It comes from a state of introspection. It means music from the physical, mental, and spiritual self." (from an article by Rick Mason in Minneapolis' City Pages).

Further: The material "will be created at the time," Lateef said. But don't call it improvisation. "That's another term that's used improperly," he said. "When you look at the definition of improvisation, it is to do something without previous preparation. But your whole life is preparation."

As for the AACM, "I hear they're comparable to what I do," Lateef said. According to Rudolph, "Yusef's vision and aesthetic have had an impact on a lot of AACM musicians."

So what we have here is close to two hours of intense autophysiopsychic music from the group of four. Lateef is basically on tenor sax, but also doubles on flute and piano, recites his own poetry and contributes vocals. Mitchell is certainly on alto sax and Rudolph on percussion. Ewart is on soprano, bass clarinet, flute, didgeridoo and all add percussion and small instruments. There is an amazing sax solo section emplying what sounds like circular breathing which might be Ewart, but only listening to the audio, one cannot know for sure.

All in all, an amazing two hours of introspection. Best listened to on earphones and demanding your full attention.


8 comments:

  1. http://rapidshare.com/files/297910673/YUSEF_LATEEF_12-6-08.part1.rar

    http://rapidshare.com/files/297917720/YUSEF_LATEEF_12-6-08.part2.rar

    http://rapidshare.com/files/297903285/YUSEF_LATEEF_12-6-08.part3.rar

    This is in the flac format, but at a fairly low bitrate as far as flacs go, so not much to gain (or lose) by posting as mp3s.

    ReplyDelete
  2. got this from dime, here's what I've got in my files:


    Lateef-Mitchell-Ewart-Rudolph
    Minneapolis, MN (USA), McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
    December 6, 2008

    Yusef Lateef - tenor sax, flute, oboe, recitation on encore
    Roscoe Mitchell - alto & soprano sax, flute, percussion
    Douglas Ewart - alto sax, contra bass clarinet, flute
    Adam Rudolph - gimbri, piano, percussion, voice

    CD1/77:25
    1. (9:53) [AR,gimbri,voc solo]
    2. (18:00) [YL,fl/RM,ss/DE,contra-bcl/AR,perc]
    3. (49:31) [YL,ts,fl,voc/RM,as,ss,fl/DE,as,fl/AR,perc,p]

    CD2/35:28
    1. (22:40) [YL,ts,fl,voc/RM,as,ss/DE,as/AR,p,perc]
    2. (12:47) [YL,ob,voc/RM,as/DE,ss,fl/AR,perc]

    TT: 112:53

    Sound: A/A-
    Lineage: Sonic Studios DSM6S->PA-LC3->Edirol 09-HR->EAC->Traders Little Helper

    ReplyDelete
  3. This was from dimeadozen recorded by Butchko, right?
    I saw Yusef with Adam Rudolph last week in Amherst, MA. What a really beautiful show they did together as a duo. And last year Yusef joined Rudolph's Moving Pictures Octet for a piece in the same venue.

    Yusef is a true legend and a massive influence on the musicians we love. 89 years and still going!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's from Dime for sure. I didn't catch the name of the poster as the info file that came with the files lacked that info as well as the instrumental setup among the players, so thanks for the added info. I still keep wondering who did that amazing circular breathing exercise on the longest track.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Magical, spiritual and sooo inspiring. Thank you, Yusef, Roscoe, Douglas and Adam. You made my day happier.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please remove downloadable audio and video files of Roscoe Mitchell and also the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

    Thank you for your cooperation.

    ReplyDelete