Don Cherry / Latif Ahmed Khan

𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴, 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 / 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝘿𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙛 𝙆𝙝𝙖𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤, 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙨.

Having reshaped jazz through his work with Ornette Coleman, Cherry pushed beyond free jazz into a realm that embraced musical traditions from around the world. His approach was rooted in deep respect and curiosity rather than novelty—an effort to dissolve boundaries between cultures and sound worlds.

Latif Khan, from Delhi’s renowned gharana lineage, brought a dazzling rhythmic sensibility to the collaboration. His intricate, irregular patterns perfectly complemented Cherry’s melodic freedom and spiritual openness. Though the two had never met before the session, their chemistry was instant—an intuitive exchange of ideas, humour, and shared vision.

On Music / Sangam, Cherry plays trumpet, keyboards, gong, bamboo flute, dousso n’koni, and voice, while Khan performs on tabla. Together, they created a dialogue that remains one of Cherry’s most inspired contributions to the evolution of global jazz.