Yusef Lateef’s Quartet in Avignon

Cover of the album being discussed (from the album’s Amazon.com Web page)

Following up on my examination of Sun Ra at the beginning of this month, my examination of new albums released in celebration of Record Store Day has led to Atlantis Lullaby: The Concert in Avignon. The concert took place on July 19, 1972 in the Cloître des Célestins and was presented by a quartet led by wind player Yusef Lateef. He was joined by pianist Kenny Barron, Bob Cunningham on bass, and drummer Albert Heath, one of three jazz brothers known to his friends as “Tootie.” The album consists of two CDs and accounts for about 90 minutes of music (give or take the time set aside for applause).

For the most part the tracks are of extended duration. The only brief one is “Lowland Lullaby,” in which Heath shifts over to Indian flute to play a duet with Cunningham. Most of the tracks are by Barron, including what was probably 25 minutes of free improvisation given the title “The Untitled!” On the briefer and more lyrical site, Barron plays a duet with Lateef for his composition “A Flower.” All the other tracks involve the entire quartet, providing each of the players opportunities for extended solo takes. That includes the “straight ahead” track for “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” which is one of the more generous platforms for Lateef’s own solo work.

Lateef enjoyed a relatively generous amount of attention during my time at the campus radio station for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, after I left with my doctoral degree, I found that there were few opportunities for me to encounter his work. That situation only changed a few months ago, when I wrote about his Eastern Sounds album at the end of this past February. As a result, I appreciated that Record Store Day provided me with another opportunity, which turned out to be a “full concert” document. Whether one has a taste for extended improvisation or the quiet brevity of “Lowland Lullaby,” this is a collection of tracks for which attentive listening will be richly rewarded.