Lou Donaldson - Midnight Creeper
Released - October 1968
Recording and Session Information
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 15, 1968
Blue Mitchell, trumpet #2-5; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Lonnie Smith, organ; George Benson, guitar; Leo Morris, drums.
tk.4 Elizabeth
tk.8 Dapper Dan
tk.11 Love Power
tk.14 Midnight Creeper
tk.17 Bag Of Jewels
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Midnight Creeper | Lou Donaldson | March 15 1968 |
| Love Power | Teddy Vann | March 15 1968 |
| Elizabeth | Lou Donaldson | March 15 1968 |
| Side Two | ||
| Bag of Jewels | Lonnie Smith | March 15 1968 |
| Dapper Dan | Harold Ousley | March 15 1968 |
Liner Notes
JAZZ unfortunately has lost its hold on the young. In my formative years it was the beginning of being "in"; if you were black, it denoted the time of your renaissance, the forming of your intellectual premise. IF you were white it was your break with the establishment, it was the young fashionable thing to do and the music to listen to. Jazz helped form the opinions and concepts of many of the so-called liberal intellectuals of today. 'Tis a pity jazz is no longer the protest music of the young. It has become middle-aged and sterile.
The musicians, the record companies and the promoters share equally in the responsibility of this sad occurrence. The musicians were more artistic than entertaining though I readily admit that most of them were excellent technicians, but with few exceptions forgot that all art forms have another purpose, and that is to entertain. If the art form is to endure it must always entertain. The record companies with their establishment mentality never promoted jazz effectively enough to nurture it into economic maturiyy. It was always a stepchild. Promoters presented jazz in dimly lit, dingy ginholes below street level where the young feared to tread or in overpriced concerts that made it impossible for the young to patronize. On the positive side of the coin there seem to be a few musicians, record companies and promoters who are aware of the situation and are making an attempt to correct some of the historic mistakes in the playing, promotion and recording of jazz.
The promotion of the Monterey Festival, for instance, is exciting and shows great promise. One of the musicians taking the high road is Lou Donaldson as is his recording company, Blue Note. I would like to bring to your attention three particular cuts on this LP:
"Midnight Creeper": As the title implies a groovy blues that swings lightly. This midnight creeper is a jovial fellow. Bend your ear and you will hear a groovy trumpet and guitar solo along with Lou taking care of business, of course.
"Love Power": This tune opens with a steady vamp that the group maintains all the way through. This cut has the most rapid tempo and generates excitement that the young set could dig.
"Elizabeth": Beauty is in the ears of the beholder — Liz must be a stone gas, a beauty to be with and a beauty to look at. This is Lou Donaldson's tour de force, Lou is unafraid to bare his beautiful and sentimental soul, without a doubt my favorite cut from the LP, a ballad that is sweet in tempo yet not mushy.
The other two cuts on the LP namely "Bag Of Jewels" and "Dapper Dan" will reap bountiful rewards for the listener.
Be quiet, be cool and be gassed!
—REGGIE LAVONG
No comments:
Post a Comment