Editing Yusef Lateef (section)

===Prominence===
Lateef began recording as a leader in 1957 for [[Savoy Records]], a non-exclusive association which continued until 1959; the earliest of Lateef's album's for the [[Prestige Records|Prestige]] subsidiary New Jazz overlap with them. Musicians such as [[Wilbur Harden]] (trumpet, flugelhorn), bassist [[Herman Wright]], drummer [[Frank Gant]], and pianist [[Hugh Lawson (jazz pianist)|Hugh Lawson]] were among his collaborators during this period. In 1960, they played an extended gig at the Minor Key, a non-alcoholic club at Dexter and Burlingame in Detroit.<ref>[https://theconcertdatabase.com/venues/minor-key The Concert Database], ''the concert database", 1959. Retrieved January 31, 2022.</ref><ref>Duante Beddingfield. 
[https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2021/09/04/kenny-barron-has-detroit-jazz-club-memories-go-back-decades/5725721001/ "Kenny Barron, due Saturday at jazz fest, has Motor City memories that go back decades"], ''[[Detroit Free Press]]'', September 21, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2022.</ref>

By 1961, with the recording of ''[[Into Something]]'' and ''[[Eastern Sounds]]'', Lateef's dominant presence within a group context had emerged. His "Eastern" influences are clearly audible in all of these recordings, with spots for instruments like the rahab, [[shanai]], [[arghul]], [[koto (musical instrument)|koto]] and a collection of [[Chinese flutes|Chinese wooden flutes]] and [[Chinese bell|bells]] along with his tenor and flute. {{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Even his use of the western [[oboe]] sounds exotic in this context; it is not a standard jazz instrument. Indeed, the tunes themselves are a mixture of jazz standards, blues and film music usually performed with a piano/bass/drums rhythm section in support. Lateef made numerous contributions to other people's albums, including during his period as a member of saxophonist [[Cannonball Adderley]]'s Quintet during 1962–64.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In the late 1960s, he began to incorporate [[soul music|contemporary soul]] and [[gospel music|gospel]] phrasing into his music (albeit with a strong blues underlay) on albums such as ''[[Yusef Lateef's Detroit|Detroit]]'' and ''[[Hush 'N' Thunder]]'', presaging the emergence of [[jazz fusion]]. Lateef expressed a dislike of the terms "jazz" and "jazz musician" as musical generalizations.<ref>Heckman, Don (December 24, 2013), [http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-yusef-lateef-20131225,0,7549278.story#axzz2q91pYM7K "Yusef Lateef dies at 93; Grammy winner blended jazz, world music"], ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref> As is so often the case with such generalizations, the use of these terms does understate the breadth of his sound. In the 1980s, Lateef experimented with [[New-age music|new-age]] and spiritual elements.

In 1960, Lateef returned to school, studying flute at the [[Manhattan School of Music]] in New York City. He received a [[bachelor's degree]] in music in 1969 and a master's degree in [[music education]] in 1970. Starting in 1971, he taught courses in "autophysiopsychic music" at the Manhattan School of Music, and he became an [[associate professor]] at the [[Borough of Manhattan Community College]] in 1972.

In 1975, Lateef received an [[Ed.D.]] from the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]; his dissertation was a comparative study of Western and Islamic education. Thereafter, he served as a senior research fellow at the Center for Nigerian Cultural Studies at [[Ahmadu Bello University]] throughout the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Centennial Celebration of Yusef Lateef |url=https://fac.umass.edu/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=InSearchOfTheBeloved&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id= |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=fac.umass.edu}}</ref> Returning to the United States in 1986, he took a joint faculty appointment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and [[Hampshire College]].