Customer Reviews

Lush Life

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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.

This session offers some solid ensemble playing and Duke Pearson's arranging is a perfect fit. The choice of tunes on this session is right down the middle; very inside and well-known oldies like "Sweet and Lovely," "You've Changed," and "It Might As Well Be Spring, " The ensemble backing Lou here and a few like it were used during this era to back various artists; notably a few powerful sessions fronted by Hank Mobley (A Slice of the Top) and Lee Morgan (The Procrastinator). It's a refreshing change from Lou Donaldson's usual organ groove fare. The sidemen are all A-listers, and it is amazing from the perspective of a few decades hence to think that there was a time when this concentration of talent was readily available to serve in a backup role.

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.