Renowned saxophonist Yusef Lateef dies aged 93

SHUTESBURY, Massachusetts - The Associated Press

Grammy-wining Yusuf Lateef was a tenor saxophonist known for his impressive technique and a top flutist.

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 Dec. 23 at his home in Shutesbury in western Massachusetts.

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.

“I believe that all humans have knowledge,” he said in a 2009 interview for the National Endowment for the Arts. “Each culture has some knowledge. That’s why I studied with Saj Dev, an Indian flute player.

That’s why I studied Stockhausen’s music. The pygmies’ music of the rain forest is very rich music. So the knowledge is out there. And I also believe one should seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. With that kind of inquisitiveness, one discovers things that were unknown before.” 

As a composer, he created works for performers ranging from soloists to bands to 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 of the instruments. In 2010, he was named an NEA Jazz Master, the nation’s highest jazz honor. Lateef had an international following and toured extensively in the U.S, Europe, Japan and Africa. His last tour was during the summer.