Billboard : 08/11/1958
Two stars

A swingin’ four track set that offers three up-tempo times with solos by Donaldson and the rest of the crew and one medium-beat number. Supporting Donaldson are D. Byrd, trumpet; C. Fuller, trombone; S. Clark, piano; G. Joyner, bass, and A. Taylor, on drums. It’s a hard-driving set that can attract buys from hard bop buffs and mainstream fans. A good demo track is Sputnik.

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Down Beat : 12/11/1958
John A. Tynan : 4 stars

As one of the strongest contenders for leadership in the Extroverted Alto league, Donaldson, for this record date, surrounded himself with wailers of distinction. The result is happy, sometimes a little rough musically, but invariably swinging hard.

All three horns blow with consistent interest. Lou is furious on Sputnik (which turns out to be What Is This Thing Called Love? in fast orbit); almost too casually preaching on the long, long blues Strollin’, and surprisingly lyrical on Groovin’.

Byrd is fleet, intelligent and bitingly himself in all his solos. His logical development of a linear idea, as on Sputnik, can become quite fascinating to the listener on repeated playing. Trombonist Fuller is gutty without being crude and displays ever-growing creativity particularly on the blues – the thoughtless “theme” of which, incidentally, amounts to little more than marking time before the start of the solos.

In the rhythm section Taylor and Joyner are strong men indeed, the latter strenuously walking his head off in an aggressive, almost defiant manner. Clark‘s comping is always pertinent and decisive, as are his frequent solos.

A very good blowing set by the Young Turks of New York.

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Liner Notes by Robert Levin

The alto saxophone, though its use in jazz has been secondary to the wider ranged, more functional tenor, was a particularly impressible instrument in the hands of its most notable exponent, Charlie Parker. Bird’s all encompassing influence on virtually every instrument needs no discussion here, but there have been alto players who came to the fore during the Parker and post-Parker eras who, while they must acknowledge Bird as a strong influence, have roots in a pre-Parker period. One of them is Lou Donaldson who was born in Badin, NC on November 1, 1926 at approximately the same time the saxophone was first being integrated into jazz. Although he did not begin to study music with any degree of seriousness until fifteen years later, and then with the clarinet in high school bands, he was able to listen to and absorb the many diversified styles that were made prominent within the decade and a half before Bird by Don Redman, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Willie Smith, Louis Jordan, Pete Brown, etc.

“I’m a little older than most of the cats around today and a lot of the things people hear and think are new, I’ve heard before.”

The whole of Donaldson’s conception might be considered a thoughtful assimilation of all he has heard which, in turn, would be close to all that has been said on the alto since its inception. He is making a point of carrying on the short, but significant tradition of the alto, but wants to keep his approach to a “simple” one.

“You know, you can get as much out of one note as you can out of really intricate harmonies. Jazz should be simple and you should be able to get what you can out of it. Like Bird. He could just keep getting it out – getting things out of the simple things. Of course, that takes talent and a lot of cats don’t have it so they have to experiment with more involved things. But that can’t be real jazz. Jazz is down and basic and that’s the way it should be kept. What I want to get is a personal, identifiable style that’s in a Bird groove, but which takes in all of the characteristics and capabilities of the alto saxophone – rhythm, tone, melody… rhythm is the most important thing, I guess – Bird has so much rhythm in his playing. But there’s beautiful tone also, like Johnny Hodges who can also play such pretty melodies. I want to take in all that, but not go too far out – and above all stay myself which is really the most important thing, no matter how sad some people may think you are.”

Lou picked up the alto when he was inducted into the Navy in 1945 and, after his discharge, jobbed around Greensboro, NC with local groups, before coming north where he underwent an extensive orientation in rhythm and blues from 1951 to ’53. He feels that his experience in that medium has helped him considerably.

“You can learn a lot playing rhythm and blues that you could never learn in school. Like Coltrane and Griffin. They played a lot of that stuff and they can play jazz now with a lot of power, drive and depth.”

Within the past several years the bulk of Lou’s working hours have been spent in various New York rooms with people like Horace Silver, Art Blakey and the late Clifford Brown. He is currently fronting his own unit at the Continental in Brooklyn and has been gigging intermittently with Donald Byrd at the Café Bohemia. He has recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name (BLP 1537, BLP 1545, BLP 1566) as well as with Art Blakey and Jimmy Smith.

Byrd, the twenty-six year old Detroit trumpeter, has become something of a Bing Crosby of jazz in point of his extensive representation on records. A sincere and serious young musician, he has continued his musical studies in spite of the already high regard he is held in by many of his colleagues and has gradually developed his intonation and linear continuity to a point that is becoming more and more worthy of this regard. Byrd’s style has yet to solidify, in the sense that it has not yet become immediately identifiable as his own, but he is approaching a firm consolidation of the Gillespie and Davis methods and, in this respect, is following a pattern set down by Art Farmer and Kenny Dorham. Trombonist Curtis Fuller, two years Bird’s junior, is another Detroiter who received much acclaim when he first came to new York in early 1957. Fuller has been strongly impressed by J.J. Johnson and is more than passingly involved with that innovator’s approach, but gives sign of extending, rather than simply continuing Johnson’s tradition. His own two Blue Note albums are BLP 1567 and BLP 1572. The rhythm section; Sonny Clark, George Joyner and Art Taylor, is a strong, propulsive and busy one. Clark is a Silver-informed, blues-rooted pianist who is the leader of five of his own Blue Note dates; BLP 1570, BLP 1576, BLP 1579, BLP 1588 and 1592 (unreleased). Taylor is considered to be among the finest and most sympathetic recording session drummers in contemporary jazz. Joyner, an outstanding rhythmic bassist, makes his Blue Note debut here. He has worked with John Coltrane, Red Garland and Donald Byrd, among others.

Sputnik is a swift Donaldson line that is used as a springboard by the leader, Fuller, Byrd, Joyner and Clark, in that order. Charlie Parker’s Dewey Square features solos by the three horns (Fuller, Donaldson, Byrd) and short statements by Joyner and Taylor before the close. Donaldson has a particular affinity for Bird’s tunes and plans to record more in the future. Strollin’ In, a lengthy, brightly-pulsating blues by Donaldson, has a lithe, dancing-effect bass intro that leads into a rocking theme and extended solos by Byrd, Fuller, Donaldson, Joyner (who shows his strong rhythmic facility and continuity) and Clark who is joined by the horns and a subdued return to the theme before the fade-out ending. The standard from-within-jazz, Groovin’ High by Dizzy Gillespie based on the chord changes of Whispering, has typically expressive solos by Donaldson, Byrd, Fuller and Clark.

At thirty-two Lou Donaldson, with a wife and two young daughters, has not let the many insecurities of his profession discourage his need and desire to communicate with his horn.

“I just want to continue playing jazz and see what I can get across to the people.”