Lou Donaldson

Posted in REVIEWS

Jazz Showcase, Chicago,IL

Aug. 8, 2008

Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
 
Akiko Tsuruga
Akiko Tsuruga
 

Story and Photos by James Walker

What a pleasure it was to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the company of veteran alto sax man, Lou Donaldson. Lou was completing his final of four days performing at the New Jazz Showcase in Dearborn Station in the South Loop. Donaldson’s such a treasure who at the age of 81 is still very witty, bright and play a “mean” horn. Yes, he’s more laid back during his performance, but when he puts that saxophone between his lips, that familiar hard bop sound is still there. Donaldson is full of stories and jokes and between each song, one could rest assured that Lou would enlighten this capacity matinee audience with some of his life experiences.Often when headliners perform at Chicago’s premier jazz venues, they “pick up” some of the local talented musicians to round out their ensemble. That was not the case with Donaldson. Accompanying Lou during this gig was guitarist Eric Johnson, drummer Fukushi Tainaka, and dynamic organist Akiko Tsuruga. It isn’t often that one witnesses a female organist with a jazz band, but Ms. Tsuruga opened some eyes and ears with her “Shirley Scott-like” sound.After quipping about not knowing if he could play so early in the afternoon (4:00 p.m.), Donaldson opened the 75 minute set with “Blues Walk.” That “concern” was quickly put to rest as Lou closed his eyes and began making sweet music. He integrated a few bars of “Summertime” during this selection. Guitarist Johnson and Organist Tsuruga displayed nice extended solos.

With August being the traditional commemoration of the late and great Charlie Parker at the Showcase, they next played one of Parker’s composition entitled “Qui.” Donaldson spoke about Parker’s role in revolutionizing BeBop before they journied into this hard bop selection with each ensemble member showing off their “BeBop” skill.

Another nice piece they played was “What a Wonderful World,” a tune make popular by trumpeter Louie “Pops” Armstrong. Lou even attempted to emulate “Pops” with some vocals during this number. The crowd loved every minute of it. This song also featured guitarist Johnson who did his his best imitation of Wes Montgomery while picking the strings with his thumb and not a pick.

Drummer Fukushi was featured on “Fast and Freaky.” Before playing this number Lou quipped, you can’t play this number by getting high. That was followed by a “blusey” number with Donaldson again demonstrating his vocal prowess. He called it “suffering” music and indicated “you can’t play it if you haven’t had it.” Again, the crowd was very appreciative of his bantering.

As the set was nearing an end, Donaldson shared another story about once being told by a producer that he needed a three minute song to complete an album. Not having any material available in his songbook, Lou decided to just make up a song on the fly. Naturally, it turned out to be one of his greatest hits, “Alligator Boogaloo.” This funky tune allowed Tsuruga to stretch her talents while Donaldson seemed to admire her bursts on the organ.

This wonderful set was coming to an end, but not before a final anecdote from the affable Donaldson. As they prepared to play Charlie Parker’s “Cherokee,” Lou talked about often using this number to eliminate musicians he didn’t care for because it was such an intricate piece to play with some very fast runs. Well, even at 81, Lou demonstrated he can still make those runs as he brought this set to a climatic conclusion.

The Jazz Showcase is open seven days a week with local talent highlighted Monday-Wednesday before national headliners don the stage Thursday-Sunday. For detailed information, refer to their website at: www.jazzshowcase.com.

Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Akiko Tsuruga
Akiko Tsuruga
Showcase crowd
Jazz Showcase crowd
Akiko Tsuruga & Lou Donaldson
Akiko Tsuruga & Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Showcase crowd
Jazz Showcase crowd
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Akiko Tsuruga
Akiko Tsuruga

Contact James Walker, Jr. and JazzChicago.net

JAZZ BLOG 08, DAY 4: No Fusion, No Confusion

Posted in REVIEWS

icon By Frank De Blase on Jun. 17th, 2008 at 5:25am

Tenor sax legend Lou Donaldson strolled out cool and casual onto the Kilbourn stage in a black suit promising nothing but straight-up jazz. “No fusion, no confusion,” he said. He and his quartet then launched into a sweet take on his 1957 “Blues Walk” where he let Akiko Tsuruga, the little lady behind the B3, swell, swirl, and swing. By the time they were into the second tune — essentially a Charlie Parker piece, even though according to Donaldson, Bird stole it — the guitarist was playing so fast he almost fell off his stool. At 81 Donaldson still exhibits incredible tone and seemingly effortless phrasing. He comes from the hard-bop school, and with this early set he proved to be its headmaster. Pure jazz with enough hairpin turns to keep it interesting, and a few straight-aways to lure the rookies…

JAZZ BLOG 08, DAY 4: They Put On A Show

Posted in REVIEWS

icon By Ron Netsky on Jun. 17th, 2008 at 5:29am

…I also had to see Lou Donaldson, one of the greats on saxophone, at Kilbourn Hall. Donaldson is old school, from the days when a jazz musician was an entertainer. So he told jokes, sang a blues tune, and kidded his Japanese band members about coming from Alabama and Mississippi. It was corny but endearing coming from him.Those band members, Fukushi Tainaka on drums and Akiko Tsuruga on the Hammond B3 organ, were quite incredible. Tainaka played most of the set keeping a steady inauspicious beat, but when called upon to solo he became Ginger Baker on steroids. Tsuruga played the organ like Jimmy Smith. Her technique was formidable, and she knew how to wring every ounce of emotion out of the instrument.

Guitarist Eric Johnson was also excellent, playing some Wes Montgomery-style solos and, at one point, going wireless and walking through the audience and even out of the hall while continuing to play a scorching blues solo. Like I said, they put on a show.

Of course, Donaldson was the best of all. He’s got his history, dating from the 1950’s, and he’s still got his chops. It was great to hear his simple, catchy hits like “Blues Walk” and “Alligator Boogaloo,” but Donaldson also played some challenging songs like “Cherokee” and “We” with an unmistakable flair.

And he was wonderfully opinionated, introducing his encore, “Bye Bye Blackbird,” by saying, “This is a tune Miles Davis did when he was playing jazz.”…

Keeping the Sugar in the Great Cake of Jazz

Posted in REVIEWS

By Susan Broili : The Herald-Sun

sbroili@heraldsun.com
Jan 19, 2008

DURHAM — North Carolina native Lou Donaldson, 81, turns out to be a diplomat of sorts. The alto saxophonist joins musicians David “Fathead” Newman, Houston Person and The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio for the “Soul Jazz Summit” performance tonight at Duke University’s Reynolds Theater.

This historic gathering that brings these musicians together for the first time launches the Duke Performances Soul Power series that features seven gigs over two months.

When contacted by phone in Plantation, Fla., where the Bronx resident was visiting his daughter to get a break from cold weather, Donaldson said he thought the name of their concert fits what they do.

“That music has the soul and rhythm to it,” Donaldson said.

The musician became known for his bluesy, soulful sound and recorded for the famed Blue Note label, including “Alligator Boogaloo,” with Dr. Lonnie Smith and George Benson.

When Smith played in Donaldson’s band, Donaldson said he gave the organist some fatherly advice about the business side of music.

“To me, Smith is a consummate organ player because he doesn’t drown out the other music,” Donaldson said. Back in the days of playing clubs, the organ proved a crowd-pleaser — so much so that club owners would often extend the band’s engagement for a second week.

“You can make it sound like a whole orchestra,” Donaldson said of the organ.

Growing up, Donaldson did not have a music teacher for horn because Badin, N.C., was so small, with a population of 3,500 — “if you count the hogs and chickens,” he said.

So Donaldson’s mother bought him a book and taught him to read music to help him learn to play the clarinet when he was around 9, he recalled.

A piano teacher, his mother had started him at age 7 on the piano.

“The piano was all right, but the lessons weren’t all right. She had a switch. When you missed a note, she’d rap it across your hands,” Donaldson said.

He took to the clarinet and went on to play it in the marching band at North Carolina A&T College in Greensboro, where he majored in political science because the school offered no music degree, he said.

When he entered the Navy in 1945, he had been chosen for training as a radio man on a submarine when he heard some “squeaking and squawking” coming from a marching band rehearsal at the base in Great Lakes, Ill. “Somebody was messing up music in there,” he recalled.

He wound up going inside and picking up a clarinet.

“Everything [the band leader] could pull out, I played,” he said.

Then, the bandleader asked if he could play alto sax and he said he could, despite the fact that he had never played the instrument. They needed a sax player for the Navy dance band. So, he went back to his barracks and by the time of the first dance, he could play it.

“I wanted to be in the dance band because that was the only time you got to see any women,” he said.

The Navy would bring groups of women to the base to dance with soldiers, he added.

Even though his Navy service consisted of playing in the marching and dance bands, he said the entire year and a half he served proved tense because there was always a chance he could be tapped to be in a band on a ship where he would have war-related duties as well — something he saw happen to other musicians who did not come back, he added.

While Donaldson and the other guest musicians tonight have all played with Smith at one time or another, tonight’s performance marks the first time they’ve all played with Smith at the same gig.

Duke Performances director Aaron Greenwald said he orchestrated this historic musical summit of these powerhouse musicians.

“To start this thing off with a real bang was really important,” Greenwald said of the Soul Power series.

And so was the ending, which is why he chose saxophonist Maceo Parker, a Kinston native and resident, as the last act in the series. Parker played for many years with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

The series features luminaries along a soul spectrum that includes gospel’s Dixie Hummingbirds; soul singer Solomon Burke; hip-hop’s DJ King Britt and DJ Spooky and those soulful jazz masters Smith, Donaldson and company.

“I think it’s closer in feel and manifestation to soul music than mainstream jazz,” Greenwald said of the latter musicians’ sound.

Donaldson said the blues feeling and strong rhythms their music embodies is an essential part of jazz that many of today’s classically trained jazz artists leave out. His music continues to be sampled for its rhythm tracks by today’s hip-hop artists, Donaldson said.

In his opinion, taking the blues out of jazz doesn’t leave much.

“It’s like taking the sugar out of cake,” Donaldson said.

GO AND DO

WHAT: Soul Jazz Summit with The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio and guest musicians David “Fathead” Newman, Lou Donaldson and Houston Person.
WHEN: 8 p.m. tonight (Jan. 19). Show will go on, snow or no snow.
WHERE: Reynolds Industries Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University.
TICKETS: General public: $38, $32; Duke students: $5. Purchase at the door or through www.tickets.duke.edu

Saxophonist Donaldson Redefines Reality Show

Posted in REVIEWS

| Tribune arts critic

Sooner or later in any Lou Donaldson show, the great alto man will arrive at the same line, and on Wednesday evening it came early:

“Tonight, you’re going to hear some real jazz–no Kenny G, no Najee, no any-G,” Donaldson told the crowd at the Jazz Showcase, savoring the ovations he always receives when preaching to the converted.

But even if Donaldson hadn’t invoked his famous motto to ridicule the pretenders, there would have been no doubt the music he played was about as authentic an expression of bebop-era jazz as can be heard at this late date. That Donaldson enriched this language with a plangent blues tone and a soulful, emotionally wide-open delivery helped explain why he has been held in high esteem by jazz listeners of all kinds for decades.

To understand the septuagenarian saxophonist’s multifaceted appeal, consider his version of Charlie Parker‘s “Now’s the Time,” a bebop anthem if ever there were one. Though Donaldson was around when the tune was new and first inspiring uncounted recorded versions, Donaldson’s approach sounded like nobody else’s.

For starters, he played the main theme slower and with more swagger than one is accustomed to hearing, slightly exaggerating rhythmic values for dramatic effect. His sound, meanwhile, was about as blue as an alto can get, his tone so searing it probably could cut through concrete.

And when Donaldson hinted at Parker-style improvisations, his speedy passages, unexpected silences and unconventional phrase lengths transformed “Now’s the Time” once more. By constantly changing rhythmic patterns, altering melody notes and reworking chords, Donaldson rejuvenated an overplayed classic.

There’s much more to Donaldson, however, than just his bebop credentials. In the ballad “Laura,” for instance, he produced piercing high notes, sighing phrases and–at his best–a lyricism rivaling the work of a formidable jazz vocalist.

Backed by an organ trio, Donaldson made the most of the fat chords coming from Kyle Koehler’s Hammond B-3, the propulsive swing rhythm from Fukushi Tainaka’s drums and the sleek, Wes Montgomery-inspired lines from Randy Johnston’s guitar. Together, these rhythm players created an ideal musical setting for Donaldson, who earlier in his career made soul-tinged organ accompaniments integral to his work.

On this occasion, the result was a music that was as viscerally powerful as it was intellectually substantial, and that’s a combination that doesn’t come along often enough.

———-
Lou Donaldson plays through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.

New Grove Dictionary Of Jazz

Posted in REVIEWS

Lou Donaldson, alto saxophonist and singer. He began studying clarinet at the age of 15 and he continued to receive tuition when he joined the navy. After taking up the alto saxophone he performed in a navy band with Willie Smith, Clark Terry, and Ernie Wilkins.

He first recorded with Milt Jackson and Thelonious Monk (both 1952) and as the leader of several small groups; among his sidemen were Blue Mitchell, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey (all 1952), and Clifford Brown and Philly Joe Jones (1953).

In 1954 he and Brown joined Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He continued to lead small groups, mainly in the eastern USA; he performed in Stockholm (1965) and toured and recorded in Europe (1981-82).

His early work for Blue Note (1952-1962) showed his impressive mastery of the bop style, but when in 1963 he began to record for Argo (later renamed Cadet), which specialized in funk, some of his creative spark seemed to be sacrificed to the need for commercial success.

After he returned to Blue Note (1967), however, he made a series of recordings (to 1975) in which he achieved a successful blend of elements of the two styles; in the early 1980s he once again concentrated on bop. Donaldson has a dazzling technique and at his best is a strong, inventive, expressive player.

–LAWRENCE KOCH, The New Grove Dictionary Of Jazz

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