Contemplation

Issued by Vee Jay in 1974, Contemplation was recorded in 1960 and has Lateef fronting a stellar ensemble that includes longtime collaborator Barry Harris on piano, Nat Adderley on cornet, Louis Hayes on drums, and Sam Jones on bass. While the title of the session may be associated with Lateef's more Eastern-themed albums, Contemplation is an album of straight-ahead, blues-based hard bop. The deep evidence is that Lateef, a great multi-instrumentalist, restricts himself to blowing tenor here. The set opens with "Hazing," an angular, whole-tone-scale, rip-snorting hard bop number. Lateef's solo goes the length of the horn as Harris follows with stinging ostinato grace. Hayes' drum solo is short, but full of accent and counterpoint. "Teef" is an original number that comes from the deeper side of the blues, and Lateef swings out of the R&B box on his solo. Adderley's solo comes at the melodic line long and slow, stopping in the intervals for scalar fills and loping chromatic trills, leaving the blues feel. Barry Harris' "I Need You" sounds like it came from a dream where Harris heard Ben Webster playing a mixture of "Chelsea Bridge," "'Round Midnight," and "Harlem Nocturne." His own gorgeously adorning chords make Lateef's breathy, velvet solo a treasure and offer a clue into the pianist's innately lush lyricism (usually under full cover of his blinding right-hand bop runs). The set ends on Adderley's "Sassy Ann," a killer dual-front-line number with Hayes pushing the tempo from the jump. Adderley and Lateef jump all over the melody, with Adderley soling first in tight, spastic legato moves all over the chorus and verse; the melody is all but lost as he crams as many notes as possible into the measure, while Harris holds the bards down. Lateef answers in a fiery yet rounded manner, turning the melody inside out and offering it back as the vamp. In all this is an intensely satisfying date, full of top-flight musicianship, inspired soloing, and great tunes. This is one of Lateef's best recordings of the era. ~ Thom Jurek|