LP-724

Lou Donaldson - Signifyin'

Released 1963

Recording and Session Information

Tommy Turrentine, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto saxophone; Big John Patton, organ; Roy Montrell, guitar; Ben Dixon, drums
A & R Recording Studios, New York, July 17 1963

12553 Bossa nova [Lou's new thing]
12554 Signifyin'
12555 I feel it in my bones
12556 Time after time
12557 Coppin' a plea
12558 Don't get around much anymore
Si si Safronia

Track Listing

Signifyin'	Lou Donaldson	July 17 1963
Time After Time	Jules Styne & S.K. Russell	July 17 1963
Si Si Safronia	Lou Donaldson	July 17 1963
Don't Get Around Much Anymore	Duke Ellington & S.K. Russell	July 17 1963
I Feel It In My Bones	Lou Donaldson	July 17 1963
Coppin' A Plea	Lou Donaldson	July 17 1963

Liner Notes

DURING the course of a conversation had recently with a leading jazz musician we got to talking about a certain rather new element on the jazz scene. This new faction consists of guys who earned their names as jazz musicians but who, with fame, have abandoned the jazz part of their music. And this is not a reference to the freedom movement in jazz. Rather, the reference is made to another group whose music to many listeners is beyond the jazz realm, yet palmed off as jazz. It represents a transcension of roots as if there were an aura of shame attached to the basic elements of jazz.

As our conversation continued this musician also bemoaned the fact that with this "sididdification" of jazz much of the fun and enjoyment is leaving the music. Also he mentioned that very little, if any, jazz was being played to which people could dance. Years ago, he reminisced, you could listen to jazz and in many cases, if moved, you could get up and dance to it.

I stored these bits and pieces of that conversation in my mind. I didn't even think about our talk until I was asked to write the liner notes for this album. Then it struck me that everything my friend and had complained about on the current jazz s«ne Lou Donaldson was able to remedy.

Lou is representative musically of the root conscious fifties, an era in which there vas a re-affirmation of the basics of jazz. Within this particular framework Lou constantly carries jazz to the people that is totally enjoyable, at times danceable, at all times good solid jazz.

There is a tendency in some jazz circles to put down that in jazz which is commercially successful. Rather, it appears, we should be thankful, those of us who earn our livelihood in jazz, that there are guys like Lou Donaldson who carry jazz on a mass scale to that single most important element...the audience. And just something is commercially successful doesn't rnean that it is not musically valid. Rather, it seems that the Lou Donaldsons have found the formula whereby they can play jazz that is universally appealing and also valid musically.

It's interesting to go into a club where Lou is appearing, or even to a house party where Lou's recordings are being played, and watch how the people react to the music. There's finger poppin', foot tappin' and most important — lots of smiling and laughing. Its very simple to get caught up in the staples of Lou's style; the catchy riffs, the driving organ and drum accompaniment. etc. This is the music that keeps jazz alive it sells records, fills clubs, and most important, it keeps jazz alive as a business and so that it can stay on its feel as an art form.

This album marks Lou's debut on Argo records. In it he does what he has been doing for years on records, only better. There are the jump numbers, ballads, even a touch of bossa nova, but the pervading element is the Lou Donaldson sound. If I wanted I could cite my favorite cut on the album or tell you that such and such is a blues in F, but really what would be the point. Lou's is not music to be dissected. It's music to be enjoyed.

Joel Dorn
WHAT-FM
Philadelphia