Cashbox : 01/04/1958

The Donaldson quintet displays a smooth delivery as it presents a well chosen lineup of tunes. Members of the group are Donaldson (alto sax), Herman Foster (piano), “Peck” Morrison (bass), Dave Bailey (drums), and Ray Barretto (conga). Punch readings are given to a program of both evergreens (I Won’t Cry Any More, There Will Never Be Another You); and originals (Groove Junction, Peck Time). Important jazz entry.

—–

Down Beat : 04/17/1958
Dom Cerulli : 4 stars

With backing by a rhythm quartet, Lou spreads out in a rather relaxed groove on this collection. There are no furious flights at up-up tempo but rather a pacing and varying of mood.

Donaldson stays pretty close to the pretty theme of Dorothy and also to There Will Never Be Another You. On the latter, Lou is assisted by the sensitive piano of Foster.

Peck Time is an often-humorous blues base don a phrase from Swinging on a Star and featuring solos all around. The closing track, Grits and Gravy, is a walking, earthy blues, suited to Lou’s tone and style and conception.

All in all, a set representative of the musicianship and humor in Lou.

—–

Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

In early August, on returning home from vacation, I received a pleasant surprise when I found a package from Blue Note awaiting me. It was a test pressing of a new recording by Lou Donaldson and inside the record envelope was a typewritten sheet with the personnel, the titles and a special message from Alfred Lion which was underlined and read, “The best Lou Donaldson I ever recorded…”

Since I know Al Lion to be an astute and unbiased judge of music even when it is on his own label, I took these words at face value while I kept in mind all the other fine records that Lou made for Blue Note.

When I spoke to Lou he echoed the thought that he had made many records for Blue Note which he liked. Although he wouldn’t say that these were the best, he did make the point that he was trying to do something a little different on this set.

“There are several different ways to play the alto saxophone, like Charlie Parker or Johnny Hodges for instance,” Lou said.

Lou, of course, is known for his exciting work in the Parker idiom and as someone who plays himself all the time, he is within the same style in this recording. He has, however, concentrated on different aspects of of his horn here as regards timbre and control and while it is not Johnny Hodges (and never meant to be), it is a different and more complete Lou Donaldson, polished but not to the point where you can’t see inside anymore. It is a perfection of a sort which might make a lesser jazzman a slick one if he were to approach a parallel on his instrument.

If you heard Wailing With Lou, BLP 1545, Lou’s last Blue Note album (and it was a gasser), you will remember that some of the same musicians who appeared with him there are also present here.

Herman Foster, who made his recording debut in Wailing With Lou, is a pianist who has been blind since birth. The way Herman tells it, “I became interested in the piano during grammar school. A girl taught me a hymn and I went on from there.”

His varied style of alternate single line and chords is an effective one and the organ effects he evokes while stroking the block chords are especially ingratiating.

Another returnee is “Peck” Morrison, the bassist who has worked recent in-person jobs with Lou too. “Peck” is a strong rhythmic support and his simple but powerful solos on the two blues numbers are what jazz is about.

A drummer who fits admirably with “Peck” is Dave Bailey, the regular drummer with Gerry Mulligan since 1955. From August to December of that year, “Peck” was with Gerry too and so this is a reunion for them.

For more rhythmic content, Lou added the conga of Ray Barretto, a drummer who has played with the name Latin bands in New York but who prefers to play with a jazz group when he gets the chance. Heard on all numbers but Grits and Gravy, Ray gets right in with the feeling of the group and in his solo spots shows a definite feeling for jazz phrasing.

Dorothy, the opening selection, is a composition by Rudy Nichols, a drummer who has been heard with Charlie Mingus and Teddy Charles. Lou delivers the melody with a tender clarity and solos with a combination of facility and warmth before returning to the theme.

A ballad from around 1940, I Won’t Cry Anymore, is treated to a tempo change and benefits from solos by Herman Foster and Lou. By the very drive he adds to the rhythm section, Ray Barretto shows he knows how to use the conga drum in a jazz context.

Ray plays a more conventional role on Herman’s Mamba written by Herman Foster. After a rhythmic opening, the attractive theme is introduced. Then the time is doubled for Lou’s swiftly darting solo and doesn’t resume its original pace until towards the end of Herman’s say.

Peck Time is a blues original by Lou based on a phrase from Swinging On A Star that he has been known to quote often. The rhythmic section supplies a wonderful bottom during Lou’s solo wherein he goes strolling as Herman lays out. Herman’s solo follows, a happy amalgam of his two approaches; Peck has two working choruses and the two drummers exchange “fours” with Lou.

When There Will Never Be Another You was written, it was conceived as a ballad, but jazzmen, except for Lester Young on one of the first jazz recordings of the tune, have raised its tempo to medium and up. Here Lou delivers a soulful ballad rendition aided by Foster’s delicate strength at the piano.

The theme of Groove Junction, a swinging Donaldson opus, sends Herman Foster off winging in a solidly grooving medium tempo solo. Lou’s first two solo choruses are done in the strolling manner and Herman returns to back him in the third. Before the final theme, Ray and Dave converse in their different drum dialects.

Grits And Gravy is the closer. It’s a funky, down home blues with a mood setting introduction by Peck leading into solos by Lou and Herman that continue and deepen the general atmosphere. Then Lou returns for a summing up that is as blue as the blue on a Blue Note label.

Perhaps you have some other special favorites and won’t agree with Al Lion’s opinion that these are the best things Lou Donaldson has ever done for Blue Note. If you are singling out individual performances I might agree with you but on the basis of an entire session, I am in concurrence with Alfred. Lou has reached a new level of performance; it’s a high one.