Saxophonist Yusef Lateef

Yusef Lateef reflects on how growing up in the Detroit jazz scene in the 1930s fueled his desire to play jazz at an early age. He talks of driving from Michigan to New York with fellow Detroiters such as pianist Barry Harris, drummer Louis Hayes, and trumpeter Donald Byrd for recording sessions and scurrying back to be on time for work at the auto plant first thing Monday morning. Lateef invites us to one of his music classes at UMass Amherst, where he taught for more than 14 years, the last two as a Five-College Distinguished Professor of Music.

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Producers: Steve Schwartz, Margot Stage
Engineer: Jane Pipik

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