Mssr_Renard Like the other Impulses this is not Lateefs best work. But still it is of high standard. Lateef is not only a gifted saxophone-player but also one of the best jazz-flautists I know.

On this album most songs are straight forward hardbop with saxophone and rhythmsection, but there are some surprises, like the playful 'Exactly Like You' with some upbeat oboe-playing. An uplifting song, and if the oboe is not your instrument, I can understand, but I really enjoy the oboe in jazz.

The absolute high-point of this album is the titletrack, a wonderful and adventurous composition with some excellent interplay in the rhythmsection. The fluteplaying here is really beautiful as is the cymbalwork and the mallet-played tomtoms by Roy Brooks jr. The compositions is very mysterious and has an middle-eastern flavour. Not only a highpoint of this album, but a highpoint in jazz-flute-history.

I can understand that the Impulse!-albums of Lateef to some are a bit of disappointment. But on the other hand, the playing is magnificent and the production is really good. In fact the Impulses of Lateef are great hard/post bop albums with some excellent suprises. They are not freejazz, avant garde or out-there or the new thing, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Mssr_Renard This one may not be the best and most adventurous album of Lateef, but it sure is one of his most coherent.

A mostly mellow affair, with some hardbop thrown in the mix (the heavy and intense Semiocto), but like I said it's mostly modal jazz and ballads. But Yusef really knows how to blow a ballad. There are also a blues-piece and a wonderful adaption of my favorite composition in the world (Satie's Gymnopedie). Inn this version we have the flute playing the melody, and the rhythmsection (piano, drums and bass) filling in the gaps. Great playful drumming by James Black.

The most out-there composition is Medula Sonata, wich is a joy to listen to. A lot of percussion and great saxophone-playing and lot of dissonants make this composition the only real free-ish song on this album.

There is also a solo-piece by pianist Georges Arvanitas at the end of Side B, wich is a nice addition and a surprise to my ears. I have not heard of Arvanitas before, but he has a nice flowing playing-style.

There's is no oboe on this album, just tenor saxophone, flute and bamboo-flute. But that's okay. This album is definately a great Lateef-album and also a great Impulse!-album. I can strongly recommend this one.

js Coming out in 1976, Yusef Lateef’s “The Doctor is in …and Out” was a late comer to jazz’s short lived psychedelic phase, but like many of the somewhat obscure psych-jazz of that era, its found a second life among collectors of rare groove and jazz exotica. In many ways, Lateef was a natural for this style, his many African flavored long winded spiritual modal jazz jams were already one foot in the psyche world as it was. Throughout his career, Yusef was an artist who was interested in fusing jazz with whatever he felt like trying. “The Doctor…” isn’t a great album, nor a particularly bad one, but it is worthwhile for those who like those somewhat off the beaten path kind of opuses.

Side one opens with three rather laid back groove based fusion jams on which Lateef spins solos on flute and oboe. Joining him on keyboards is the great Kenny Barron, who shows up on more of these kind of albums than anyone except maybe Herbie Hancock. Before he became the king of contemporary hard bop, Kenny was all about his arsenal of synthesizers, effects and other electronic keyboards. As usual, Barron turns in a great job with his rhythmic accompaniment and hot solos. Side two picks up steam a bit with two grittier funk jazz numbers, the first recalling Eddie Harris and the second, Herbie’s Headhunters.

For the last three tracks of the album, Yusef takes a very hard left turn with some rather out there outings. “Technological Homosapien” is some sort of talk about technology that is hard to make out sometimes because the words are being over powered by odd sounds on the synthesizer. “Street Musicians” is just that, a recording of some street musicians performing a rather sad and mournful melody. The album closer takes the cake for oddness though, as Lateef solos along side an old sentimental pop song that may be altered electronically somewhat. As mentioned earlier, this album is mostly good for someone into acid jazz putting together a DJ set or mix tape that will have listeners trying to guess ‘where did you find that exotic jam‘.

Sean Trane I believe this is Yusef’s last album for the Impulse label, and he’s in a quartet formation with Lawson on piano, Wright on bass and Brooks on drums. The album features a bunch of covers of standards, which IMHO don’t exactly fit with the Impulse “New Thing” image – so allow me to take the “!” away from this review.

Opening with Road Runner (written by Yusef about life on the road), Lawson’s piano and Lateef’s sax bounce over each other to make it vibrant. The following Straighten up is a reprise of Nat Cole, and it will be joined a little later by Lester Young’s slow ballad Ghost Of A Chance and a bit later Exactly Like You (with a rare oboe). The album’s title only starts to fulfil its promise with the Yusef-penned Oasis, which features the flute and a light and slightly mysterious eastern (Arabian) ambiance.

The flipside opens on the promising Yusef-penned Golden Flute, built on a JS Bach inspiration, where the flute returns with a haunting mysterious aura. Lawson’s Head Hunters is a brilliant piano-dominated piece and the closing 7-mins+ Brooks-penned Smart Set is an outstanding modal piece with all members cruising along, just interrupted by a short drum solo, only to return to its haunting pace.

Unfortunately, while the album contains a few magic pieces, it’s rather clear that most (if not all) 60’s jazz label still didn’t know how to build an Album (yes, with a big “A”). This writer kind of wishes that all the covers of this album would’ve been grouped on one side; while the quartet’s original composition (much more interesting – and not just IMHO, I believe) would’ve made the flipside. Oh, yeah: this album’s major flaw is that it doesn’t feature enough of the instruments it draws attention to: two tracks only, even if they’re the best two of this slice of wax, it’s a little too few for my tastes.

Sean Trane Between Yusef’s better known Prestige label era (where he recorded his most famous Eastern Sounds) era and his next Atlantic label days, Lateef spend a couple of years on the seminal Impulse label, and the present Psychicemotus is (I believe) his second last for the orange house. Released in 66, the album was recorded in the summer of 65 with the inevitable Reggie Workman on bass and more importantly Franco-Greek pianist Georges Arvanitas

The opening title track is a very interesting modal piece that can recall Trane’s Africa/Brass album with some Sun Ra-like percussions that give it a slightly dissonant flavour courtesy of Arvanitas’ piano. Bamboo Flute is (as you’ll guess) a slow blues with a bamboo flute. Logical enough, uh?? Semiocto is definitely more Trane-ian, and has Yusef going wild on his sax, while dummer Black solos briefly.

On the flipside, the jazzified Satie piece Gymnopédie features some quiet flute over gentle piano. The following Medula Sonata sounds like Yusef also listened to Debussy or Sibelius. Arvanitas’ piano dominates the closing reprise Ain’t Misbehaving.

While the present album has excellent moments, compared to what else was going on the Impulse label, Yusef’s album might not merit the “!’ on the label logo on the front sleeve. Indeed, the “New Thing” appears only as a “thingette”.