Higher education and jazz don’t always go together. That’s not even meant to be some double entendre – you know. High?

Anyway, it seems like for the most part, the better known and respected jazz players to come out of the ‘50s and ‘60s moved back towards a guttural philosophy of playing. It’s not that anyone was better or worse for playing in that manner – and not everyone did, obviously. But only a few folks headed to academia for some sort of mental sustenance.

Dr. Yusef Lateef was one player that seemed to really enjoy school, though. Moving from Tennesse to Detroit during his younger days landed the soon to be musician in a scene rife with talent. And after completing high school, Lateef removed himself to Wayne State University. Considering the fact that Lateef was around during the early stages of what would yield up hippiedom in a decade or so in Detroit, it makes sense that he was affected by the open mindedness that pervaded the city in its musical circles.

After touring for a bit with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Cannonball Adderly, Lateef began leading groups of his own. By 1957, be bop was beginning to give away to new jazz tropes. For better or worse, the music was changing. But it doesn’t seem that Lateef was particularly interested in changing alongside the genre. Instead, he embarked on a career of self exploration that included brining in non-western elements into his performances. It can’t be claimed that the band leader and multi-instrumentalist pioneered any such approach, but it’d be difficult to prove that he wasn’t an integral part of it – Coltrane was apparently impressed as well. Who knew?

By the end of the ‘60s, Lateef had already grown tired of mucking around with any semblance of traditional jazz sounds – or even some of the more bizarre strains of the genre. So, in 1969, alongside Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie on drums and a few other notable players, Lateef recorded an album that was meant to distill the town in which he grew up.

Detroit, by contrast to most jazz making use of electronic instruments during the ‘60s, didn’t owe any sort of debt to Miles Davis’ combos. Instead, Lateef and his backing group set the soul and funk of Detroit’s music scene up against a traditional concept of jazz. The latter didn’t win out, but did provide Lateef with a spate of interesting back drops to solo over.

On workouts like “Livingston Playground,” the sax player incorporates bluesy phrasing and some soloing that would fit in any jazz track atop of a melody that would have been ample for Isaac Hayes to sing over. Not that this particular track represents the vanguard of new music. It doesn’t. But Latef wanted to raise a joyous racket. “Eastern Market,” which has been sampled by DOOM for inclusion on a few albums, sports a buoyant flute melody as Purdie funks up the supplemental music.

Detroit isn’t going to be embraced by most jazzbos, or even by a great portion of Lateef’s fan base. But it’s still pretty funky.