Search - Yusef Lateef, Adam Rudolph :: Beyond the Sky

One of the great unknown jazz originals

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love jazz. Not least because of artists like Yusef Lateef. Here's a man who's been making brilliant music basically in near total obscurity since the late '50s. Yes, he had his day in the sun (he was once a major artist in the Atlantic stable), but since he began his forty + year sojourn down paths of Eastern-tinged jazz, founded his own label, and basically thumbed his nose at the jazz establishment, he has eschewed commercial success and pursued his own ideosyncratic and glorious vision.Beyond the Sky strikes me as one of his most fully realized discs to date. Indeed, this is one of a handful of absolute great world jazz albums, including Sanfona by Egberto Gismonti, Vira Loucas, by Cyro Baptista, and The Invisible, by Peter Epstein. What I love about Beyond the Sky, and what sets it appart from other great world jazz outings, is the depth of its jazz concept perfectly melded to an unimpeachable world music esthetic that encompasses a huge variety of world musics, from African, to East Indian, to Oriental, to American Indian. It thus becomes a kind of world jazz ambassadorial kind of thing, able to communicate with ease in any number of authentic world jazz idioms.Part of it is that three core members of this group--Lateef, Adam Rudolf, and Ralph Jones--have been perfecting this approach as an ensemble for more than a decade. They thus operate at a level of musical compatibility and comraderie that is nothing short of uncanny. Marc Helias (wrongly rendered as "Helais") on acoustic bass produces some of the deepest and most thoughtful rhythmic underpinnings to be found on jazz recordings. Joseph Bowie on trombone and a variety of percussion is simply magnificent, as is Charles Moore on trumpet and other assorted instruments. I have no previous familiarity with the other players, but Alex Marcelo on piano fits perfectly into these memorable musical soundscapes. And electro-acoustic computer and guitarist M. Abidh Waugh consistently adds beautiful coloration and wry musicality to the proceedings.One of the reasons for the spectacular success of this disc is the uncanny fluidity and versatility of the players. All told, the eight performers play more than 39 different instruments, including such rarities as the deeraphone, moan flute, hichiriki, batajon, djun-djun, and karinya. Amazingly, nothing sounds exotic for exoticness' sake: everything is seemlessly integrated into a simply glorious sound signature.Especially evocative is the Lateef composition "Iqbal Remembered," one of the most mysterious, mesmerizing musical experiences I have ever encountered. The more I listen to this, the more I am becoming convinced that it is the greatest ever world jazz album. If you have even the slightest affinity for music of this type, DO NOT MISS THIS DISC."