Yusef Lateef

Yusef Lateef (1920-2013), born William Emanuel Huddleston, was a Grammy-winning American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator, famous for pioneering "world music" by blending jazz with Eastern sounds, playing instruments like tenor sax, flute, oboe, and bassoon, and for his spiritual journey as an Ahmadi Muslim. From his Detroit roots, he became a versatile innovator, exploring avant-garde, fusion, and "autophysiopsychic" music, and was a prolific author and philosopher, leaving a legacy as an "evolutionist" in music and life.