TopTenREVIEWS presents the music career and reviews of Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
CAREER SPAN:
Decade
Album Score
# Albums
Ratings and rankings are based on all available critic reviews for each album.
Overall Band Score:
3.2518
Lou Donaldson Album Rankings
1
Lou Donaldson's undisputed masterpiece,Blues Walk, marks the point where the altoist began to decisively modify his heavyCharlie Parkerinfluence and add a smoky, bluesy flavor of his own.
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2
The influence ofCharlie Parkercan be heard in virtually every modern jazz musician, particularly players of the alto saxophone.
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3
SinceQuartet/Quintet/Sextetis Lou Donaldson's first full-length album, it's not surprising that it captures the alto saxophonist at the height of hisCharlie Parkerinfluence.
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4
After brief sojourns at Argo and Cadet, Lou Donaldson marked his 1967 return by recordingLush Life, the grandest project he ever attempted.
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5
As he delved deeper into commercial soul-jazz and jazz-funk, Lou Donaldson became better at it.
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6
Alligator Bogaloois one example of Lou Donaldson's successful combinations of hard bop and soul-jazz. Of the six tunes, three are Donaldson originals, including the title hit.
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7
This previously unreleased live set, which has been issued on Blue Note'sRare Groove Series, will bore anyone who listens closely.
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10
This Lou Donaldson Quintet set (which also features organist Lonnie Smith, guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Fukushi Tainaka and the percussion of Ray Mantilla) offers few surprises but no real disa
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11
Like fellow alto saxophonists Phil Woods, Jackie McLean, Frank Morgan, Ernie Henry, and Sonny Criss, Lou Donaldson started out with a very Charlie Parker-like tone but went on to develop a recognizab
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12
Lou Donaldson didn't break any new ground in the 1990s; instead, the veteran alto saxophonist excelled by sticking with the type of soul-jazz/hard bop that brought him a lot of commercial success (by
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15
As specifically indicated by the album's title, the title tune's bluesy cast, and Sweet Lou Donaldson's own determined liner notes, this CD aims to strike a blow for soul-jazz, a once-popular, then-m
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16
Although purists might not find it as much to their taste as Midnight Creeper, Everything I Play Is Funky is easily one of the best examples of Lou Donaldson's commercially accessible period of the l
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17
Gravy Train is a fine, if not quite exceptional record from Lou Donaldson's initial soul-jazz phase of the early '60s.
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18
The Natural Soul finds Lou Donaldson delving deeply into soul-jazz, recording a set of funky, greasy instrumentals with only a few references to hard bop.
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22
Sunny Side Up is closer to hard bop than the straight-ahead bop that characterized Lou Donaldson's '50s Blue Note records.
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26
Good Gracious may be Lou Donaldson's record, but guitarist Grant Green and organist John Patton steal the show.
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27
Lou Donaldson is a fundamentally conservative player, the sort of guy who has worn his allegiance to Charlie Parker as a badge of honor and delights in disparaging "fusion and con-fusion" from the st
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30
A wildly erratic slice of funky soul-jazz in keeping with Lou Donaldson's late-'60s commercial accessibility, Hot Dog isn't a total washout, but it's just as hit-and-miss as many of Donaldson's album
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32
Lou Donaldson does attempt to loosen up a bit with Mr. Shing-A-Ling, but the whole affair is a bit stilted.
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33
Lou Donaldson has recorded many strong sessions throughout his career but this CD reissue brings back one of the less-significant ones.
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