NOTEWORTHY DEATHS

Jazz musician, Grammy-winner in 1987

SHUTESBURY, Mass. - Grammy-winning musician and composer Yusef Lateef, one of the first to incorporate world music into traditional jazz, has died. He was 93.

Lateef died Monday athis home in Shutesbury in western Massachusetts, according to the Douglass Funeral Home in Amherst.

Lateef, a tenor saxophonist known for his impressive technique, also became a top flutist. He was a jazz soloist on the oboe and played bassoon. He introduced different types of flutes and other woodwind instruments from many countries into his music and is credited with playing world music before it was officially named.

As a composer, he created works for performers including soloists, bands and choirs. His longer pieces have been played by symphony orchestras throughout the United States and in Germany. In 1987, he won a Grammy Award for his New Age recording Yusef Lateef’s Little Symphony, on which he played all the instruments.

Born William Emanuel Huddleston in Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1920, Lateef moved with his family to Detroit five years later. He became acquainted with many top musicians who were part of Detroit’s active music scene, and by age 18 he was touring professionally with swing bands led by Lucky Millinder, Roy Eldridge, Hot Lips Page and Ernie Fields.

He became a fixture on the Detroit jazz scene in the 1950s leading his own quintet. In 1960, he moved to New York and joined Charles Mingus’ band. Lateef would go on to perform with some of jazz’s best talent, including Cannonball Adderley, Donald Byrd and Miles Davis.

Lateef had an international following and toured extensively in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Africa. His last tour was during the summer.

He is survived by his wife, Ayesha Lateef; son, Yusef Lateef; a granddaughter and great-grandchildren.

Arkansas, Pages 16 on 12/25/2013

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