Yusef Lateef Jazz Mood

1957 was a year when jazz music faced another renewal from the already traditional bebop style towards more progressive territories with mystical melodies and more playful structures. Free jazz was already in sight but nobody could name it yet. The post bop movement and modal jazz came up and somewhere in between lies this record by cult saxophonist Yusef Lateef who had already released quite a few records by the time „Jazz mood“ came to birth. Some more adventurous and mystical melodies go hand in hand with relaxed and groovy classic bebop excursions from the schoolbook of modern jazz after 1950. But there is a certain dynamic coming with the music. Something that shows you the hunger for progression and the craving for new ground to explore. So you will find well familiar melodylines here played by a saxophone that is always close to break out of the standards. And the interplay of all instruments is just fantastic, right on the spot, tight and still free in certain moments. Yusef Lateef and his band paint pictures and tear your mind open to blow magic into your soul. There are passages here and there that go beyond the standard phrases and deprive you of your breath due to the passionate and lusty performance. All in all „Jazz mood“ is a melodic album and creates a dim and thought provoking atmosphere. Another killer true jazz album from the 1950s before the great freakout began, still easy to consume for mainstream listeners but also inspiring enough for the hipsters.