All Topics  
Lou Donaldson

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Lou Donaldson
 
 
  Topics Lou Donaldson Topic Home

Lou Donaldson (born November 1,1926) is a jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina
Badin, North Carolina

Badin is a town located in Stanly County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,154....
. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to the alto saxophone
Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by the Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax. The alto, with the Tenor saxophone, is the most common size of saxophone....
, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop
Bebop

Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s....
 era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker

Charles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker is widely considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians, along with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington....
.

first recordings were with bop emissaries Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson

Milton Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist and one of the most important figures in the hard bop style, although he performed in several subgenres of jazz....
 and Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer.Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz -- he is one of only three jazz musicians to be featured on the cover of Time magazine -- Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epi...
 in 1952, and he led several small groups with other jazz luminaries such as trumpeter Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell

Richard Allen Mitchell was an United States jazz, rhythm and blues, Soul music, rock music, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman on Blue Note Records....
, pianist Horace Silver
Horace Silver

Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer. His father, who was known as John Tavares Silva, was from the island of Maio, Cape Verde in Cape Verde....
, and drummer Art Blakey
Art Blakey

Arthur Blakey , born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an United States jazz drummer and bandleader....
.

In 1953, he also recorded sessions with the trumpet virtuoso Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated United States jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings....
, and Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones

Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States of America Jazz drumming, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Lou Donaldson'
Start a new discussion about 'Lou Donaldson'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Lou Donaldson (born November 1,1926) is a jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina
Badin, North Carolina

Badin is a town located in Stanly County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,154....
. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to the alto saxophone
Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by the Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax. The alto, with the Tenor saxophone, is the most common size of saxophone....
, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop
Bebop

Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s....
 era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker

Charles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker is widely considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians, along with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington....
.

Biography

His first recordings were with bop emissaries Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson

Milton Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist and one of the most important figures in the hard bop style, although he performed in several subgenres of jazz....
 and Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer.Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz -- he is one of only three jazz musicians to be featured on the cover of Time magazine -- Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epi...
 in 1952, and he led several small groups with other jazz luminaries such as trumpeter Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell

Richard Allen Mitchell was an United States jazz, rhythm and blues, Soul music, rock music, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman on Blue Note Records....
, pianist Horace Silver
Horace Silver

Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer. His father, who was known as John Tavares Silva, was from the island of Maio, Cape Verde in Cape Verde....
, and drummer Art Blakey
Art Blakey

Arthur Blakey , born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an United States jazz drummer and bandleader....
.

In 1953, he also recorded sessions with the trumpet virtuoso Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated United States jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings....
, and Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones

Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States of America Jazz drumming, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet....
. He was a member of Art Blakey's Quintet and appeared on some of their most popular albums, including A Night at Birdland Vol. 1
A Night at Birdland Vol. 1

A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 is a 1954 release by jazz artist Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records and has seen subsequent reissues on Compact disc since 1987 from that same label....
.

He has recorded in the bop
Bebop

Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s....
, hard bop
Hard bop

Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Hard bop incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing....
, and soul jazz
Soul jazz

Soul jazz was a development of hard bop which incorporated strong influences from blues, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often the organ trio which featured the Hammond organ....
 genres. For many years his pianist was Herman Foster
Herman Foster

Herman Foster was an American bebop jazz pianist.Foster was best known for his longtime association with Lou Donaldson; the two played together from 1953 to 1966....
.

Discography


As leader

  • 1953: Clifford Brown Memorial Album (Blue Note)
  • 1957: Lou Takes Off
    Lou Takes Off

    Lou Takes Off is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson....
  • 1958: Blues Walk
    Blues Walk

    Blues Walk is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson.It has been considered Donaldson's "undisputed masterpiece"....
  • 1958: Light Foot
  • 1961: The Time Is Right
  • 1962: Funky Mama
  • 1963: Gravy Train
  • 1967: The Natural Soul Tommy Turrentine
    Tommy Turrentine

    Thomas Walter Turrentine, Jr. was a Swing music and hard bop trumpeter of the 1940s to 1960s.The older brother of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, he played with the bands of Benny Carter, Earl Bostic, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie....
     (tr), John Patton (org), Grant Green
    Grant Green

    Grant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer.Recording prolifically and almost exclusively for Blue Note Records Green performed well in hard bop, soul jazz, bebop and latin jazz-tinged settings throughout his career....
     (guit), Ben Dixon
    Ben Dixon

    Ben Dixon may refer to:*Ben Dixon , Australian rules player*Ben Dixon , English football player*Ben Dixon , in the Robotech universe...
     (dr).
  • 1967: Alligator Boogaloo Melvin Lastie (corn), George Benson
    George Benson

    George Benson is an American musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist. He is however, better known to the public at large as a Pop music and R&B singer, famous for such hits as "Give Me the Night", "Lady Love Me ", "Turn Your Love Around", "Inside Love", "In Your Eyes", and "This Masquerade", among...
     (guit), Lonnie Smith
    Lonnie Smith

    Lonnie Smith is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He made his debut for the Philadelphia Phillies on September 2, 1978 and later played for the St....
     (org), Leo Morris (dr).
  • 1967: Mr. Shing-A-Ling Blue Mitchell
    Blue Mitchell

    Richard Allen Mitchell was an United States jazz, rhythm and blues, Soul music, rock music, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman on Blue Note Records....
     (tr), Jimmy ”Fats” Ponder
    Jimmy Ponder

    Jimmy Ponder is an American jazz guitarist.Ponder started playing guitar at age 14, and was heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell....
     (guit), Lonnie Smith (org), Leo Morris (dr).
  • 1968: Midnight Creeper Blue Mitchell (tr), George Benson (guit), Lonnie Smith (org), Idris Muhammad
    Idris Muhammad

    Idris Muhammad is a jazz drummer. He was born Leo Morris on November 13, 1939 before changing his name in the 1960s upon his conversion to Islam....
     (dr).
  • 1969: Say It Loud! Blue Mitchell (tr), Jimmy ”Fats” Ponder (guit), Charles Earland (org), Idris Muhammad (dr).
  • 1969: Hot Dog Ed Williams (tr), Melvin Sparks (guit), Charles Earland (org), Idris Muhammad (dr).
  • 1970: Everything I Play Is Funky Blue Mitchell (tr), Melvin Sparks (guit), Lonnie Smith (org), Jimmy Lewis (b), Idris Muhammad (dr).
  • 1970: Pretty Things Blue Mitchell (tr), Ted Dunbar
    Ted Dunbar

    Ted Dunbar was a jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He published four volumes on jazz. He trained as a pharmacist at Texas Southern University, but by the 1970s only did pharmacy work part-time....
     (guit), Leon Spencer Jr. (org), Idris Muhammad (dr).
  • 1971: Cosmos
  • 1973: Sassy Soul Strut
  • 1993: Caracas
  • 1994: The Righteous Reed! The Best of Poppa Lou
  • 1996: The Best of Lou Donaldson, Vol. 2 The Blue Note Years.


As sideman

  • 1952: Thelonious Monk
    Thelonious Monk

    Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer.Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz -- he is one of only three jazz musicians to be featured on the cover of Time magazine -- Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epi...
    : Genius of Modern Music (Blue Note)
  • 1954: Miles Davis
    Miles Davis

    Miles Dewey Davis III was an United States jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jaz...
    : Bags' Groove
    Bags' Groove

    Bags' Groove is a jazz album recorded by Miles Davis in 1954 in music for Prestige Records. Both takes of the title track come from a session on December, 24 1954 ....
  • 1954: Art Blakey
    Art Blakey

    Arthur Blakey , born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an United States jazz drummer and bandleader....
    : A Night at Birdland Vol. 1
    A Night at Birdland Vol. 1

    A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 is a 1954 release by jazz artist Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records and has seen subsequent reissues on Compact disc since 1987 from that same label....
  • 1954: Art Blakey
    Art Blakey

    Arthur Blakey , born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an United States jazz drummer and bandleader....
    : A Night at Birdland Vol. 2
    A Night at Birdland Vol. 2

    A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 is a 1954 release by jazz drummer Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records and has seen subsequent reissuses on Compact disc since 1987 from that same label....
  • 1954: Art Blakey
    Art Blakey

    Arthur Blakey , born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an United States jazz drummer and bandleader....
    : A Night at Birdland Vol. 3
    A Night at Birdland Vol. 3

    A Night at Birdland Vol. 3 is a 1954 jazz LP release by Art Blakey Quintet for Blue Note Records. It was originally the third in a series of albums recorded during a pre-Jazz Messengers date at Birdland Jazz Club with Art Blakey leading....
  • 1958: Jimmy Smith
    Jimmy Smith

    Jimmy Smith may refer to:* Jimmy Smith , former NFL player with the Jacksonville Jaguars* Jimmy Smith , Australian rules footballer and coach of St Kilda...
    : Cool Blues
  • 1958: Jimmy Smith: House Party
  • 1963: Jimmy Smith: Rockin' the Boat