Label: Atlantic (LP)
Recorded at: Regent Sound Studios, New York on March 01, 1976
Jazz
The Doctor Is In . . . Out is noticeably more reliant on ’76-style ostinatos and electronic keyboards. But it’s also one of Lateef’s most consistent – and enjoyable – records in this collection. Highlights include the jungle-funk of "The Improvisors" (with Lateef on flute), Lateef’s snake-charming oboe on "Hellbound," Kenny Barron’s Headhunter funk-disco of "Mississippi Mud" (with Yusef sounding quite fine on electric sax!). Listen, too, to Lateef’s stirringly beautiful interjections on tenor during the odd forties-style vocal of "In a
Little Spanish Town."
By Douglas Payne.
**
I don't usually write reviews for jazz because although I am a huge fan, I feel I'm too young to know much about it as it was before my time. But, this album, not having any reviews needed one because it is funky! I'm a huge Lateef fan and as you may know, he experimented with many styles, moods and vibes and is a master of many. He did the same with this album. However, he doesn't leave you thinking that he is conforming ... the last track ... in a little Spanish town diverts from the the funkiness of the album to explore a different form of expression that is still ... brilliant. Great album.
By Brandon Lott.
**
In 1976, Yusef Lateef's as restless a spiritual seeker as there ever was in the field of music, revisited some of his earliest themes in the context of modern sonic frameworks: The Eastern modal and melodic frameworks of his Prestige sides, such as Eastern Sounds, Cry!/Tender, and Other Sounds, brought to bear in much more sophisticated, complex, and grooved-out ways -- after all, it had been 20 years or more. The groove referred to is funk and soul. Funk itself was mutating at the time, so Lateef's interpolation at the crossroads of all ports in the musical journey was not only valid in 1976, but also necessary. For this recording, he utilized an absolutely huge group of musicians, bringing them in for this or that part, or a sound, or a particular vamp. Some of those present were Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Dom Um Romao, Al Foster, Billy Butler, Anthony Jackson, a five-piece brass section, and a synth player. Lateef, as always, was offering evocative glimpses of geographical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional terrain in his compositions, but not in predictable ways. There's the deep minor-key meditation on blues and evolving thematic variations on "Hellbound" that becomes a Latin funk tune; the airy, contemplative, and skeletal "Mystique," which may use a repeating rhythmic phrase but explores every inch of its margins via a string section and Lateef's flute solo; the smooth, urban, bluesy funk of "Mississippi Mud"; the completely out electronic musique concrète<\it> of "Technological Homosapien" that becomes a series of synth squeals and an erratically tumbling bassline; and the wonderfully warped mariachi variation (sung in white-boy English) that featured the band playing bluesy hard bop over an age-old recorded track on "In a Little Spanish Town." It's a weird way to end a record, but then, it's a weird and wonderful record.
By Thom Jurek, All Music Guide.
**
Yusef Lateef- Alto and Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Oboe
Kenny Barron- Piano
Bob Cunningham- Bass
Ron Carter- Bass
Anthony Jackson- Bass
Al Foster- Drums
Billy Butler- Guitar
Dom Um Ramao- Percussion
Dana McCurdy- Synthesizer
Leonard Goines- Trumpet
Joseph Wilder- Trumpet
Jonathan Dorn- Tuba
Jimmy Buffington- French Horn
Jack Jeffers- Trombone
David Nadien- Violin (track 7)
Cissy Houston- Backing Vocals (track 6)
Judy Clay- Backing Vocals (track 6)
**
A1. The Improvisers (7:54)
A2. Hellbound (6:37)
A3. Mystique (7:37)
B1. Mississipi Mud (2:51)
B2. Mushmouth (6:30)
B3. Technological Homosapien (5:16)
Backing Vocals - Cissy Houston , Judy Clay
B4. Street Musicians (2:54)
Violin - David Nadien
B5. In A Little Spanish Town (T'was On A Night Like This) (3:23)
**
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