YUSEF LATEEF AND ADAM RUDOLPH

Towards the Unknown

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Yusef Lateef and Adam Rudolph get so much out of so little. Lateef, 90, remains one of the most adventurous composers and performers in jazz and an improviser nonpareil. Armed with tenor saxophone and several flutes, he and longtime percussionist collaborator Rudolph create rich sonic panoramas on Towards the Unknown by augmenting the spare instrumentation at the core with unconventional orchestral embellishment. The juxtapositions are often jarring. Lateef’s otherworldly sax squawks and airy flutes meet up in Rudolph’s six-part “Concerto for Brother Yusef” with the alternately atonal and luscious meanderings of the Go: Organic Orchestra Strings and Rudolph’s own small arsenal of bangables. Rudolph uses exotic percussion instruments (and some electronic keyboards) not just for rhythmic grounding but for melodic accent, and the effect is enveloping in its grandeur. Deeply moving and often thrilling, the set in its entirety transcends genre and form and goes someplace else altogether.

–Jeff Tamarkin