RSD 2026: Yusef Lateef’s Alight Upon The Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase On Resonance Records

A newly discovered live recording from Yusef Lateef arrives via Resonance Records for Record Store Day 2026, capturing the saxophone icon in an intimate club performance that stands out as one of the most compelling archival jazz releases of the year.

Yusef Lateef Alight Upon The Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase captures the artist backed by a superb swinging quartet featuring Kenny Barron on piano, Bob Cunningham on bass, and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums.

One of the better sounding of Resonance’ RSD new offerings, as with most of these shows from Chicago’s Jazz Showcase — a venue run by jazz enthusiast Joe Segal — the tapes used for creating this release are recorded in monaural, yet effectively document the sound of the band in the club. 

Pianist Kenny Barron stands out as a featured performer, the band playing two of his compositions including the nearly 30-minute opening track “The Untitled”– almost half of it showcases Barron’s lush, wave-like solo explorations. Likewise, his “Inside Atlantis” stretches for nearly 20 minutes.

Lateef’s playing is, not surprisingly, beautiful and inventive. Yet he also takes time to let loose such as on the lighthearted boogie-woogie show closer “Yusef’s Mood.” This has the feel of a vintage 1940s–50s Jazz at the Philharmonic blowing session, driven by the same raw energy as Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips, with flashes of the R&B honk and swagger you’d hear from Joe Houston and Big Jay McNeely.

The vinyl quality is fine on this new RSD release as are the production elements as we’ve come to expect from Resonance. The 3LP set features liner notes by noted Yusef Lateef biographer Herb Boyd, plus interviews with musicians Bennie Maupin and Wayne Segal (son of the club’s found and the frontline person maintaining his father’s sizable tape archive). 

Whether you need to own Alight Upon The Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase on vinyl is a personal decision versus just getting the CD version. The 3LP version will likely run you upwards of $60 (estimated) on RSD, However, the 3CD set is available for pre-order for just $29.98 at Amazon. 

Either way you go, this will be a fun listen for fans of Mr. Lateef’s music. 

Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc.  You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.

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