Lou Donaldson
Blues Walk

A multi-instrumentalist who reconfigured jazz many times during his long career, Yusef Lateef came to prominence in the late 1950s, after having toured with Dizzy Gillespie. Jazz Mood dates from 1957, when his quintet had some of Detroit’s finest, including Alice Coltrane’s brother Ernest Farrow on bass and future Jazz Messenger Curtis Fuller on trombone. The use of an argol on “Metaphor” and a rabat and finger cymbals on “Morning” point to Lateef’s Islamic grounding and his belief that music serves a higher purpose; this edition has bonus track “Passion,” from the equally excellent Before Dawn (1957). Rich, deep, and varied, this is required listening for all serious jazz heads.

High Pulp returns with a brand new installment of covers on Mutual Attraction Vol 2, a spiritual jazz journey, interpreting arrangements by Arthur Verocai, Cortex & Casiopea. The 8-piece fusion band pays homage to tracks and artists that have woven themselves into the DNA of the High Pulp.