The Yusef A. Lateef Collection
Dates
- 1950s-2010s
Conditions Governing Access
This collection may be viewed only in the reading room of Special Collections in the Jean and Alexander Heard Library. Collections should be requested 2-3 days prior to visiting in order to facilitate easier access. For questions or to request a collection, contact specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu.
Biographical / Historical
Yusef Lateef (b. Chattanooga, TN, Oct. 9, 1920; d. Shutesbury, MA, July 25, 2013) was an American tenor saxophonist, flutist, and composer. He grew up in Detroit and performed with the bands of Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge and others. In 1948, he converted to Islam, joining the Ahmadiyya community, a revival movement within Sunni Islam. He performed for two years with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra (1948-9). Lateef moved to New York City in 1960, where he performed with Charles Mingus, Cannonball Adderley, and Grant Green. Education was an important dimension of his life and career as a musician and composer, both as a student and teacher. Lateef is known for work on tenor saxophone and flute. He also played oboe. His musical activities also engaged exploration of timbre, non-Western approaches to improvisation, and use of non-Western instruments. He developed the concept of "autophysiopsychic" music as a corrective to some of the ways that the common conceptions of "jazz" reinforce racialized stereotypes. Lateef wrote both music and prose and devoted himself to teaching in the later part of his life. (Sources: Helgert, L. Lateef, Yusef. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 08 Aug. 2022. Monson, Ingrid. Yusef Lateef's Audiophysiopsychic Quest. Daedalus, 148/2(2019).)
Extent
20 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Physical Location
Offsite Storage, Special Collections & Archives
NMAAM-Vanderbilt University Collections Initiative
Purchased through the NMAAM-Vanderbilt University Collections Initiative.
Separated Materials
Some books were removed from this collection and cataloged as part of the Anne Potter Wilson Music Library's circulating collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid for The Yusef A. Lateef Collection
- Status
- In Progress
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Vanderbilt University Special Collections Repository
Jean and Alexander Heard Library
419 21st Avenue South
Nashville TN 37203 United States
specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu