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Eastern Sounds is an album by jazz saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, recorded in 1961. The album features Lateef's continued exploration of Middle Eastern music, which were incorporated into his version of hard bop with a quartet featuring Barry Harris on piano. The opening track features Lateef on Chinese globular flute,[3] generally called xun.[4] The fusing of musical genres was not a new thing in jazz or for Lateef as his 1957 album Prayer to the East incorporated the shehnai and Middle Eastern influences in playing jazz standards.[5] Aside from Lateef's original compositions, there are covers of themes from the films Spartacus and The Robe, the last one being used as samples by Blockhead and Nujabes.

Eastern Sounds
Studio album by Yusef Lateef
Released	April 1962
Recorded	September 5, 1961
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Genre	Hard bop
Length	39:54
Label	Moodsville MVLP 22
Producer	Esmond Edwards
Yusef Lateef chronology
Lost in Sound (1961) Eastern Sounds (1962) Into Something (1962)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[2]

Track listing

1. "The Plum Blossom" (Yusef Lateef) – 5:03
2. "Blues for the Orient" (Lateef) – 5:40
3. "Chinq Miau" (Lateef) – 3:20
4. "Don't Blame Me" (Jimmy McHugh) – 4:57
5. "Love Theme from Spartacus" (Alex North) – 4:15
6. "Snafu" (Lateef) – 5:42
7. "Purple Flower" (Lateef) – 4:32
8. "Love Theme from The Robe" (Alfred Newman) – 4:02
9. "The Three Faces of Balal" (Lateef) – 2:23

Trivia

Singer-songwriter Cat Stevens was inspired by the melody of the opening track to write his first hit single "I Love My Dog" (1966). Lateef later received credits and royalties for it.[6]

Personnel

• Yusef Lateef – flute, oboe, tenor saxophone, xun (called "Chinese globular flute" in liner notes)
• Barry Harris – piano
• Ernie Farrow – double bass, Rabaab (called "rabat" in liner notes)
• Lex Humphries – drums

References

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