Jazz for aficionados

Alex, you are correct they are very different players and there is no disagreement about their styles; very different general styles.   However, and this is an example of the depth and complexity of the details that we try and discuss here and how there is a tendency to simply “scratch the surface”.  First, if you reread my comments you will note that my comparison to Evans was a speculation or question about whether it was possible that Evans tailored his style to a degree because of who (Garland) he was replacing in the band for the the Jazz Track session.  Players can do this.  Ask a great piano player to sound like Corea or Hancock or McCoy and it is amazing how well they can do that when they want to.  In your recent post you asked about a possible “technical’ reason why Garland seemed to have less sustain in his notes.  The use of block chords when soloing, which was the basis for the Garland/Evans question, is another “technical” detail.  THAT was the basis of the comparison (and possible influence) of Evans to Garland and is just one aspect of what might constitute “style”.  The article I posted does a good job of explaining how Garland’s block chord style influenced, not just Evans, but many players.  “Style” is many things; perceived feeling of flow (very subjective unto itself, btw), harmonic approach, tone, rhythmic feel, among many other things.  One of the most interesting things in jazz is to look at who the players themselves credit as their main influences.  Sometimes it seems (on the surface) to be very surprising and unexpected.

It might be surprising to learn that this player:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6jQ9j1bdkI

Was one of this player’s main influences (by his own admission):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xr0Tfng9SP0

According to Wikipedia;


Yusef lateef, October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013 was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America, in 1950.

Although Lateef's main instruments were the tenor saxophone and flute, he also played oboe and bassoon, both rare in jazz, and also used a number of non-western instruments such as the bamboo flute, shanai, shofar, xun, arghul and koto. He is known for having been an innovator in the blending of jazz with "Eastern" music. Peter Keepnews, in his New York Times obituary of Lateef, wrote that the musician "played world music before world music had a name.

Lateef wrote and published a number of books including two novellas entitled A Night in the Garden of Love and Another Avenue, the short story collections Spheres and Rain Shapes, also his autobiography, The Gentle Giant, written in collaboration with Herb Boyd. Along with his record label YAL Records, Lateef owned Fana Music, a music publishing company. Lateef published his own work through Fana, which includes Yusef Lateef's Flute Book of the Blues and many of his own orchestral compositions.


He is one of my very favorite musicians, and I'm going to share some of my favorite cuts with you;


        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE65pr0JoHA


You wont find a bad cut on "Yusef Lateef, Live at Peps", plus he plays more different kind of flutes than I knew existed.


          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUVS6coChvI


I've got more versions of "Delilah" than you can shake a stick at; I believe "Delilah's" are born, not made; she really rocked Sampsons world.


        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDVy2B0prgo


Read the magic words someone added to Delilah;


"At dusk, when all is still, I will sing Delilah's song. I will sing it to the evening wind. I will sing it to the rolling hills and rushing streams. With unfathomable passion and joyous spirit I will sing Delilah's song. I will sing of her soft brown eyes and raven hair, her dark ebony skin and velvet lips. I will sing of her long sensual kisses and the fire she invokes deep in my heart. I will sing Delilah's song until we are united once again" Yusef magic


Today I am celebrating "Yusef Lateef"