(Hard Bop, Post-Bop) Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph - Beyond the Sky - 2000, WavPack (image+.cue) lossless

In celebration of Lateef's 80th birthday, Meta presents the latest collaboration between Grammy winner Lateef & acclaimed percussionist/composer Adam Rudolph - the music, written for 8 musicians, was premiered at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in honor of Lateef's 60 years of performing; this album was recorded the following day & features Joseph Bowie & Mark Helias. -- Amazon Product Description

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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. -- Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer"

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I have a lot to thank Jan P Dennis for. Firstly for his passion & enthusiasm for jazz; secondly for sharing that enthusiasm with other Amazon.com readers via his reviews/lists & thirdly for introducing me (& no doubt other jazz fans) to albums & artists like Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph who I otherwise wouldn't check out.
You know I'd always imagined Lateef as some "wild man" of the saxophone (as much as I love jazz I have a passionate dislike of wailing, screeching saxophone playing) but on the evidence of this disc I have been very, VERY wrong. What's on evidence here is a relaxed, almost mesmeric playing style (though not without frequent moments of excitement) firmly rooted in both western "jazz" & eastern modal traditions. This kind of music is truly at the forefront of "world jazz" & there's at once something both hypnotic & tribalistic about it (some might be the sort of stuff you'd possibly hear at Chakra Healing Conventions - well, almost!) but it is always engaging & interesting.
Rudolf is clearly a Percussioist of great talent & ingenuity & in Lateef he's found a perfect ally. Six other musicians lend great support on a variety of instruments with particular mention to Alex Marcelo on Piano & Djun Djun. Standout highlights for me are the title track & "Within Yourself".
Highly recommended. -- David J. Ohanlon

Yusef Lateef - tenor saxophone, alto, C, Nepali, Moan & Selya flutes, shenai, deeraphone
Adam Rudolph - harp, congas, djembe, udu drum, electronic drums, percussion
Ralph Jones - soprano & tenor saxophones, alto, C & Nepali flutes, bass clarinet, bassoon, hichiriki
Charles Moore - trumpet, flugelhorn, conch shell, batajon, karinya
Joseph Bowie - trombone, conch shell, sabar, congas, percussion
Alex Marcelo - piano, djun-djun
M. Abidh Waugh - electric guitar
Mark Helais - acoustic bass
Recorded on February 26, 2000.