What is Yusef Lateef known for?

Yusef Lateef is known for his contributions to jazz as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator, as well as his role as a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

What instruments did Yusef Lateef play?

Yusef Lateef was a multi-instrumentalist who played a wide range of instruments, including the oboe, flute, tenor saxophone, and various non-Western instruments such as the shanai and other world percussion and wind instruments.

What record labels did Yusef Lateef work with?

Yusef Lateef recorded with major labels such as Prestige Records and Atlantic Records, contributing significantly to the development of modern jazz through these collaborations.

What was Yusef Lateef's role in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community?

Yusef Lateef served as a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, advocating for its teachings and promoting interfaith understanding through his public engagements and writings.

Yusef Lateef

Q: What educational institutions was Yusef Lateef associated with?

Yusef Lateef was associated with several institutions including Wayne State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College, and the Manhattan School of Music.

American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (1920–2013)

Person Human Q539832

Facts

31 properties

Instance of: human
Sex or gender: male^[29]
Date of birth: October 9, 1920
Date of death: December 23, 2013
Place of birth: Chattanooga
Place of death: Shutesbury, Asbury^[10]
Country of citizenship: United States^[11]
Ethnic group: African Americans^[12]
Occupation: composer, oboist, university teacher, non-fiction writer, jazz saxophonist, recording artist, saxophonist, flautist, musicologist, jazz musician, musician^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]
Employer: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College, Amherst College^[20]^[21]^[22]
Field of work: jazz^[19]
Educated at: Wayne State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Manhattan School of Music^[23]^[24]^[25]
Religion or worldview: Islam, Ahmadiyya^[27]^[28]
Award received: NEA Jazz Masters^[26]
Genre: jazz^[30]
Official website: www.yuseflateef.com^[40]
Cause of death: prostate cancer^[35]
Languages spoken, written or signed: English^[46]
Birth name: William Emanuel Huddleston^[47]
Described by source: Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians^[45]
Discography: Yusef Lateef discography^[34]
End of work period: 2013
Family name: Huddleston^[36]
Given name: William, Emanuel^[37]^[38]

Show all 31 facts +7

Instrument: saxophone, oboe, flute^[42]^[43]^[44]
Manner of death: natural causes^[41]
Number of children: +1^[49]
Pseudonym: Yusef Lateef^[39]
Record label: Prestige, Atlantic Records, Savoy Records^[31]^[32]^[33]
Religious name: Yusef Abdul Lateef^[48]
Start of work period: 1955

🏷️ Also known as

en Yusef Abdul Lateef (née William Emanuel Huddleston) en Yusef Abdul Lateef en Joe Gentle en Yusef Lateef ar ويليام إمانويل هادلستون ar يوسف عبد اللطيف ar يوسف لطيف cs William Emanuel Huddleston cs Bill Evans cs Yusef Abdul Lateef cs William Evans da Yusef Abdul Lateef de Yusef Abdul Lateef es Yusef Abdul Lateef fa یوسف لطیف fi Yusef Abdul Lateef fr Yusef Abdul Lateef he יוסף לטיף hi यूसुफ अच्छा है hu Yusef Abdul Lateef

🔖 Identifiers · 77

ISNI: 0000000368629625, 0000000120296628
VIAF cluster ID: 84226595, 188807572
Library of Congress Authorities ID: n88144464
GND ID: 103793755
Image (Wikimedia Commons): Yusef Lateef.jpg ↗
Acharts.co artist ID: yusef_lateef
Album of the Year artist ID: 22435
All About Jazz musician ID: 8602
AllMusic artist ID: mn0000596922
Apple Music artist ID: 55640
Awards & Winners artist ID: 01mwyzc
BIBSYS ID: 5002067

Show all 77 identifiers +65

Bandcamp profile ID: yuseflateef1, yuseflateef
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 13896372z
Billboard artist ID: yusef-lateef
BlackPast.org ID: african-american-history/lateef-yusef-abdel-1920-2013
CONOR.SI ID: 73556579
CiNii Research ID: 1140282266591692416
Danish National Filmography person ID: 202938
Deezer artist ID: 64449
Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID: 103793755
Discogs artist ID: 167055, 360524
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID: biography/Yusef-Lateef
Encyclopædia Universalis ID: yusef-lateef
Europeana entity: agent/base/62303
FAST ID: 225920
FID performing arts ID: agent/gnd_103793755
Filmportal ID: 3643df1e22c847ef97b2e21fdfded263
Freebase ID: /m/01mwyzc
GTAA ID: 124386
Grammy Awards artist ID: yusef-lateef, yusef-lateef/10018
Great Norwegian Encyclopedia ID: Yusef_Lateef
Grove Music Online ID: A2242059
HAND ID: 20AF-8F90-271F-91A4-7A5A
Harper's tag: yusef-lateef
IMDb ID: nm0490021
IdRef ID: 035098414
J9U entity ID: 987007333140105171
Jaxsta profile ID: 213c3913-0c0c-4a3d-ad46-50130e60b8fc
KANTO ID: 000209692
KBR person ID: 14480141
Kinobox person ID: 878876
Kinopoisk person ID: 640771
Les Archives du spectacle person ID: 6709
Libraries Australia ID: 35344070
Montreux Jazz Festival person ID: 12731
MusicBrainz artist ID: 2968722f-03d8-4e2f-88bc-f9975f147503
Muziekweb performer ID: M00000062465
Myspace ID: yuseflateef
NACSIS-CAT author ID: DA16378430
NE.se ID: yusef-lateef
NL CR AUT ID: js20021021001
NLA Trove people ID: 919130
NUKAT ID: n2013140753
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID: XX1225322
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID: 071289941
Obálky knih ID: js20021021001
Oxford Reference overview ID: 20110803100052795
Pitchfork artist ID: 31951-yusef-lateef
RERO ID (legacy): A003498368
Radio France person ID: yusef-lateef
Rate Your Music artist ID: yusef_lateef
Rock's Backpages artist ID: yusef-lateef
SBN author ID: UBOV758431
SNAC ARK ID: w64c9b46
Shazam artist ID: 55640
Songkick artist ID: 501760
Spotify artist ID: 33XkS6h90eeK7e6OJHw0mq
Tidal artist ID: 13400
Topic's main category: Category:Yusef Lateef
Treccani ID: yusef-lateef
Universal Music France artist ID: 1001309507
WBIS ID: X101-359-5
WhoSampled artist ID: Yusef-Lateef
WorldCat Entities ID: E39PCjJQ3Jg7KKgVRTPBTYkgPP
Yale LUX ID: person/0ec5b47c-ad81-4f66-b868-5971c821b181
ČSFD person ID: 219398

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Mb:performer of 34

Eastern Sounds, Into Something, In Nigeria, Lost in Sound, 1984, A Flat, G Flat and C, Autophysiopsychic, Before Dawn: The Music of Yusef Lateef +26 more

Occupation 5

composer, university teacher, oboist, non-fiction writer, recording artist

Educated at 3

Wayne State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Manhattan School of Music

Employer 3

Amherst College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College

Instrument 3

flute, saxophone, oboe

Record label 3

Atlantic Records, Prestige, Savoy Records

Given name 2

Emanuel, William

Mb:composer 2

I Love My Dog, I Love My Dog

Place of death 2

Asbury, Shutesbury

Religion or worldview 2

Islam, Ahmadiyya

Award received 1

NEA Jazz Masters

Cause of death 1

prostate cancer

Country of citizenship 1

United States

Ethnic group 1

African Americans

Field of work 1

jazz

Genre 1

jazz

Instance of 1

human

Languages spoken, written or signed 1

English

Manner of death 1

natural causes

Place of birth 1

Chattanooga

Sex or gender 1

male

← Category combines topics 1

Category:Yusef Lateef albums

Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Summary

Yusef Lateef was born on October 9, 1920^[1], in Chattanooga^[2]. He died on December 23, 2013^[3], in Shutesbury^[4]. He worked as a composer^[5], oboist^[6], university teacher^[7], non-fiction writer^[8], and jazz saxophonist^[9].

Product Details

The following facts are restated verbatim from public-domain and CC0 open-data sources — every line is independently verifiable against the named source's catalog.

MusicBrainz — CC0 open music encyclopedia

Type: Person^[50]
Country: US^[51]
Began / founded: 1920-10-09^[52]
Ended / dissolved: 2013-12-23^[53]
Genre(s): avant-garde jazz, hard bop, jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, post-bop^[54]
Community tags: 2008 universal fire victim, avant-garde jazz, hard bop, jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, post-bop^[55]
MusicBrainz ID: 2968722f-03d8-4e2f-88bc-f9975f147503^[56]

FAQs

Where was Yusef Lateef born?

Yusef Lateef was born in Chattanooga^[2].

Where did Yusef Lateef die?

Yusef Lateef passed away in Shutesbury^[4].

What did Yusef Lateef do for work?

Yusef Lateef worked as a composer^[5], oboist^[6], university teacher^[7], non-fiction writer^[8], and jazz saxophonist^[9].

Where did Yusef Lateef go to school?

Yusef Lateef was educated at Wayne State University^[23], University of Massachusetts Amherst^[24], and Manhattan School of Music^[25].

What awards did Yusef Lateef receive?

Honors received include NEA Jazz Masters^[26].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Yusef Lateef — place of birth (P19): Chattanooga. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Retrieved 2026-10-18. blackpast.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Yusef Lateef — place of death (P20): Shutesbury. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-10-18. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Yusef Lateef — place of death (P20): Asbury. blackpast.org. blackpast.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[29] ↑ Yusef Lateef — sex or gender (P21): male. BnF authorities. Retrieved 2015-10-10. wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Yusef Lateef — country of citizenship (P27): United States. wikidata.org.
[23] ↑ Yusef Lateef — educated at (P69): Wayne State University. wikidata.org.
[24] ↑ Yusef Lateef — educated at (P69): University of Massachusetts Amherst. wikidata.org.
[25] ↑ Yusef Lateef — educated at (P69): Manhattan School of Music. wikidata.org.
[19] ↑ Yusef Lateef — field of work (P101): jazz. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): composer. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): oboist. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): university teacher. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): non-fiction writer. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): jazz saxophonist. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): recording artist. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): saxophonist. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): flautist. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): musicologist. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): jazz musician. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ Yusef Lateef — occupation (P106): musician. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[20] ↑ Yusef Lateef — employer (P108): University of Massachusetts Amherst. wikidata.org.
[21] ↑ Yusef Lateef — employer (P108): Hampshire College. wikidata.org.
[22] ↑ Yusef Lateef — employer (P108): Amherst College. Retrieved 2019-07-04. wikidata.org.
[30] ↑ Yusef Lateef — genre (P136): jazz. wikidata.org.
[27] ↑ Yusef Lateef — religion or worldview (P140): Islam. wikidata.org.
[28] ↑ Yusef Lateef — religion or worldview (P140): Ahmadiyya. wikidata.org.
[26] ↑ Yusef Lateef — award received (P166): NEA Jazz Masters. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Yusef Lateef — ethnic group (P172): African Americans. BlackPast.org. wikidata.org.
[31] ↑ Yusef Lateef — record label (P264): Prestige. wikidata.org.
[32] ↑ Yusef Lateef — record label (P264): Atlantic Records. wikidata.org.
[33] ↑ Yusef Lateef — record label (P264): Savoy Records. wikidata.org.
[34] ↑ Yusef Lateef — discography (P358): Yusef Lateef discography. wikidata.org.
[35] ↑ Yusef Lateef — cause of death (P509): prostate cancer. wikidata.org.
[1] ↑ Yusef Lateef — date of birth (P569): October 9, 1920. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2014-05-02. blackpast.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Yusef Lateef — date of death (P570): December 23, 2013. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2014-05-02. blackpast.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[36] ↑ Yusef Lateef — family name (P734): Huddleston. wikidata.org.
[37] ↑ Yusef Lateef — given name (P735): William. wikidata.org.
[38] ↑ Yusef Lateef — given name (P735): Emanuel. wikidata.org.
[39] ↑ Yusef Lateef — pseudonym (P742): Yusef Lateef. wikidata.org.
[40] ↑ Yusef Lateef — official website (P856): http://www.yuseflateef.com. wikidata.org.
[41] ↑ Yusef Lateef — manner of death (P1196): natural causes. wikidata.org.
[42] ↑ Yusef Lateef — instrument (P1303): saxophone. Montreux Jazz Festival Database. Retrieved 2020-09-28. wikidata.org.
[43] ↑ Yusef Lateef — instrument (P1303): oboe. Montreux Jazz Festival Database. Retrieved 2020-09-28. wikidata.org.
[44] ↑ Yusef Lateef — instrument (P1303): flute. Montreux Jazz Festival Database. Retrieved 2020-09-28. wikidata.org.
[45] ↑ Yusef Lateef — described by source (P1343): Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. wikidata.org.
[46] ↑ Yusef Lateef — languages spoken, written or signed (P1412): English. BnF authorities. Retrieved 2015-10-10. wikidata.org.
[47] ↑ Yusef Lateef — birth name (P1477): William Emanuel Huddleston. wikidata.org.
[48] ↑ Yusef Lateef — religious name (P1635): Yusef Abdul Lateef. wikidata.org.
[49] ↑ Yusef Lateef — number of children (P1971): 1. blackpast.org. blackpast.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.

Product details (FDA / USDA / NHTSA public-domain catalog data)

[50] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Type: Person. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[51] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Country: US. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[52] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Began / founded: 1920-10-09. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[53] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Ended / dissolved: 2013-12-23. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[54] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Genre(s): avant-garde jazz, hard bop, jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, post-bop. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[55] ↑ Yusef Lateef — Community tags: 2008 universal fire victim, avant-garde jazz, hard bop, jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, post-bop. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
[56] ↑ Yusef Lateef — MusicBrainz ID: 2968722f-03d8-4e2f-88bc-f9975f147503. MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Yusef Lateef. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/yusef-lateef

MLA “Yusef Lateef.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 6 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/yusef-lateef.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_yusef-lateef_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Yusef Lateef}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/yusef-lateef}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Yusef Lateef — https://4ort.xyz/entity/yusef-lateef (retrieved 2026-11-06)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/yusef-lateef · Last refreshed: November 6, 2026

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

7d ago · Nicereddy · 2026-11-02 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Tidal artist ID → 13400

"Changed the item: QuickStatements 3.0 batch #63220: Import Tidal artist ID from MusicBrainz, also matching on name. Part1.: import Tidal artist ID (P4576) f"
22d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗

"source for place of birth, source for place of death, source for date of birth, source for date of death from Store norske leksikon (…"
10w ago · Susmuffin · 2026-08-27 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Harper's tag → yusef-lateef

"Created claim: Harper's tag: yusef-lateef, Matched to yusef lateef (#289969568) in Harper's tag…"
13w ago · Yirba · 2026-08-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗

HAND ID → 20AF-8F90-271F-91A4-7A5A

"Changed the item: QuickStatements 3.0 batch #46379: HAND ID (2)"
24w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-20 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Number of children → 1

Occupation → composer, oboist, university teacher +1

"Changed the item: QuickStatements 3.0 batch #32117: import P21 and P106 from GND (30)"

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