Eastern Sounds

{{Infobox album

| name = Eastern Sounds

| type = studio

| artist = Yusef Lateef

| cover = Yusef Lateef Album Eastern Sounds.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{start date|1962|4}}

| 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

| prev_title = Lost in Sound

| prev_year = 1961

| next_title = Into Something

| next_year = 1962

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r142555/review|first=Thom|last=Jurek}}

|rev2 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

|rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=867}}

}}

Eastern Sounds is a studio album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer Yusef Lateef. It was released in April 1962 through Prestige Records on their Moodsville imprint.{{cite news |title=April Album Releases|editor-last=Ostrow|editor-first=Marty|location=New York|page=39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402094245/www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1962/CB-1962-04-21-OCR-Page-0039.pdf|archive-date=April 2, 2023|url-status=live |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1962/CB-1962-04-21-OCR-Page-0039.pdf |work=Cash Box |publisher=The Cash Box Publishing Co. |date=April 21, 1962}} The recording was made in September 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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-saxo-flautists-by-nathan-holaway|title=Jazz Saxo-Flautists article|date=May 17, 2005|website=Allaboutjazz.com|access-date=September 5, 2024}} generally called xun.{{Cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/reviews/David_review_corner_JUN.asp|title=Naxos|website=Naxos.com|access-date=September 5, 2024}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/other_stories/documents/01699102.htm |title=Boston Phoenix |access-date=2006-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828203254/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/other_stories/documents/01699102.htm |archive-date=2005-08-28 |url-status=dead }} In addition to original compositions by Lateef, Eastern Sounds includes covers of themes from the films Spartacus and The Robe, which have been sampled by producers Nujabes and Blockhead, respectively.

Track listing

"The Plum Blossom" (Yusef Lateef) – 5:03
"Blues for the Orient" (Lateef) – 5:40
"Ching Miau" (Lateef) – 3:20
"Don't Blame Me" (Jimmy McHugh) – 4:57
"Love Theme from Spartacus" (Alex North) – 4:15
"Snafu" (Lateef) – 5:42
"Purple Flower" (Lateef) – 4:32
"Love Theme from The Robe" (Alfred Newman) – 4:02
"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.{{Cite AV media notes

| title = In Search of the Centre of the Universe

| others = Cat Stevens Box Set

| year = 2001

| chapter = Disc 1

| page = 64

| type = booklet

| publisher = Island Records

| id = 314 85 285-2

}}