Lou Donaldson's "pretty side"
Brian Schiff | Detroit Mi. USA | 10/09/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Lou Donaldson fans might have trouble understanding what he means about alto sax players neglecting "the pretty side"-but he explains in the notes that he believed that the emphasis was with "harmonic possibilities" rather than the "basic sound of the instrument."So,this cd begins with the deep lush sound of Pepper Adams baritone sax kicking off the real pretty Lucky Millender standard from the forties,'Sweet Surrender';yeah,I did.But it's tough to figure how this classic somehow slipped off the radar.It was titled-then shelved for 13 years and released in Japan as 'Sweet Slumber'.Blue Note was going through some changes and this was apparently a "lost session" that was thankfully recovered.
Duke Pearson,who can play some serious piano,here acts as arranger for this nonet-and a young McCoy Tyner fills in a piano, with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet,Garnett Brown on trombone,Ron Carter on bass,Al Harewood on drums,Jerry Dodgion on alto sax and flute and Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. No...'Lush Life' isn't on this cd,but 'The Good Life' is;no question,Lou Rawls would dig it."
Sleazy sax a bit dated
J. TIMMERMAN | Lawson, NSW Australia | 07/01/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The only other Lou Donaldson I have is the very different Gravy Train, which I love, so I am not an expert on this guy in particular although I do own plenty of be-bop CDs, including those from Donaldson's band - Shorter, Hubbard, Tyner etc. Donaldson was of course a great player, but while be-bop never seems to date, these late 60s sleazy cool sax standards don't wear as well. The album is very much of its time, with a film or TV soundtrack kind of ambience - just imagine the gumshoe detective with his collar up, hands in pockets, fag in mouth, walking the streets of New York trying to figure out the femme fatale. Easy to absorb, but somewhat syrupy and a far cry from progressive be-bop. The remastered Van Gelder CD was transferred from a test pressing since the master tape is lost, but the sound quality is very good."