GXF-3068

Lou Donaldson - Sweet Slumber

Released - 1980

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 20, 1967
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Garnett Brown, trombone; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Jerry Dodgion, alto sax, flute; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Al Harewood, drums; Duke Pearson, arranger.

1822 tk.4 Sweet And Lovely
1823 tk.6 You've Changed
1824 tk.7 Sweet Slumber
1825 tk.9 It Might As Well Be Spring
1826 tk.11 What Will I Tell My Heart
1827 tk.14 The Good Life
1828 tk.15 Stardust

See Also: BST 84254

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Sweet Slumber	Lucky Millinder, Al J. Neiburg, Henri Woode	January 20 1967
You've Changed	Bill Carey, Carl Fischer	January 20 1967
The Good Life	Sacha Distel, Jack Reardon	January 20 1967
Stardust	Hoagy Carmichael	January 20 1967
Side Two
What Will I Tell My Heart	Gordon-Lawrence-Tinturin	January 20 1967
It Might as Well Be Spring	Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers	January 20 1967
Sweet And Lovely	Arnheim-LeMare-Tobias	January 20 1967

Liner Notes

At the time of this recording, Lou Donaldson felt that alto saxophonists had been neglecting a certain characteristic of the horn: “the pretty side.” “While exploring the harmonic possibilities,” he said, “they tend to forget the basic sound of the instrument.”

Donaldson’s right to say that is enforced by the fact that he has always practiced what he preached. A player who usually concentrates on the swinging, bluesy side of things, he nevertheless has found time to insert the touching ballad performance at the appropriate moment throughout his career.

This set is a recital of ballads, old and not-so-old, standards, and not-so-standards. The setting is quite different from the one that we have come to expect of Lou over the years. With Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Jerry Dodgion doubling on alto sax and flute, Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Al Harewood on drums, you have what might be termed a big-little band. Certainly, it is a band in the way it handles the fine, functional arrangements of Duke Pearson.

From the time Donaldson came to New York in the early-fifties, he has worked in a small group context. He limned the classic bebop alto-trumpet unison sound with Clifford Brown, both in his own group and with Art Blakey. Later it was Bill Hardman who supplied the trumpet in Lou’s quintet. In the sixties, Donaldson alternated between piano and organ in his groups. “The organ gives a big sound,” he told me, “but it’s not like the horns.”

Lou’s band experience goes back to a U.S. Navy dance orchestra that he played in during World War II. He has never forgotten the valuable lesson that he learned by blending, as part of a saxophone section, with an entire band. His own sound benefited from the experience, as did his subsequent work with one or more horns in the front line.

When Charlie Parker came on the scene in the mid-forties, Lou was one of the many that he influenced. But before that, it was Johnny Hodges that had captured Donaldson’s ears. Lou used to play the songs that Hodges played, such as “Passion Flower.” Today, you can hear both Hodges and Parker in Donaldson’s style, but as an absorbed, personal expression. The sound and style serve him well in successfully executing the music in this album. The opener is Lucky Millinder’s hit of the early-forties, “Sweet Slumber.” Lou states the melody at the beginning and end with the kind of sensitive reading that is jazz even if it is not a radical departure from the theme as written. Solos of a more improvisational nature are delivered sweetly, but not sleepily, by Shorter, Hubbard, and Tyner.

McCoy has an interlude in "You've Changed," the Carl Fischer standard. Otherwise it is all Lou, investing it with the right amounts of sadness, heartache, and other aspects of lost love. He reminded me so much of a singer that I mentioned Billie Holiday’s version from her Lady in Satin album. “I listened to that album for a week before I recorded this session’ Lou confided. It is with good reason that this highly critical saxophonist feels very happy with this track.

Dodgion’s flute introduces "The Good Life,” the ballad by French guitarist Sascha Distel. Jerry’s obligato backs Lou’s melody chorus, after which the altoist takes off on a typical Donaldson flight of intelligent embellishment before restating the theme and noodling into a board fade.

Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Stardust” begins with its seldom-heard verse. Then Lou clearly lines out the lovely chorus in forceful, gorgeous tone, ending with a quote from “Rhapsody in Blue” before returning to the verse.

Side Two commences with “What Will I Tell My Heart,” an oldie that hasn’t been heard for some time. Lou plays this plaintive lament smoothly, getting into a bluesy groove in the improvised section.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "It Might As Well Be Spring” is on evergreen that has been tackled by many great singers and instrumentalists. Here the song and the artist complement each other, with Lou adding a few new twists and turns along the way. He is helped briefly by a solo from Tyner.

The closer is a song most often associated in modern jazz with Thelonious Monk. Gus Arnheim’s “Sweet and Lovely” is still sweet — and lovely — after oil these years. Lou is loose and bluesy, and Hubbard takes up where he leaves off.

In talking about Billie Holiday’s recording of “You’ve Changed,” Donaldson went on to say how much he enjoys certain vocalists for their inspired ballad readings. Besides Lady Day, he claims Dinah Washington and Carmen McRae as two of his favorites, saying “They are just like musicians.” True. Conversely, in this album, Lou shows that he is quite a “singer.”

— IRA GITLER