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Speaking of Lou Donaldson in 1953, there’s a bootleg recording of a New York live performance with Horace Silver on piano—it’s a really great, Parker-esque performance. That said, I get the feeling that Lou returned to the Parker style in his later years anyway (like on “Forgotten Man” from Timeless). That said, personally, I prefer the rich tone Lou had during his Soul Jazz days. Opinions are probably divided on his use of Varitone, though... I still listen to the live album "The Scorpion" quite often.

Jovan Santos-Knox is out for the year. https://3downnation.com/2026/05/18/winnipeg-blue-bombers-rule-jovan-santos-knox-out-for-2026-season/ ***** Top 3 receivers https://www.cfl.ca/2026/05/18/mmqb-ranking-the-cfls-top-3-receivers-2/ ***** The league has created a chart to keep track of the quarterbacks' work during the pre-season. https://www.cfl.ca/2026/05/18/qb-tracker-breaking-down-preseason-playing-time-4/ ***** Sask-Calgary previews https://cflnewshub.com/cfl-news/cfl-preseason-today-18-saskatchewan-roughriders-vs-calgary-stampeders-tv-channels-live-stream-odds https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/game-day-roster-spots-up-for-grabs-in-riders-preseason-opener-in-calgary/

Of course it is all a matter of personal taste. At the time period that Lou Donaldson recorded with Clifford and with Blakey, he was among my favorite alto players. Ten years and more later, there were numerous alto players I greatly enjoyed while Lou had slipped far down the list of my favorites.

Various thoughts: 1 - Willis was a good singer for sure. I'm partial to Ray Collins because that's the era of Zappa/Mothers I much prefer. 2 - Yes, please take prostate cancer seriously. I've had five colonoscopies as they found something when I had the first one (20 years ago). There have been advances in the prep procedure which has made it much less egregious,and you're out for the actual procedure, so no big deal. I've had friends die of prostrate cancer, and that just didn't need to be. 3 - I saw Zappa once, in the spring of 1973, just post-Flo and Eddie (thankfully). It was the group of his with probably the most firepower, with Ponty, George Duke, the Underwoods, the Fowlers, Sal Marquez, etc. (a bit hazy overall). Yet the show was utterly anti-climactic because the group onstage ahead of them was the original Mahavishnu Orchestra (McLaughlin, Goodwin, Hammer, Laird, Cobham) in all their glory, and they played Zappa right off the stage. Incongruously, the opening act was poor John Hammond, solo with an acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool. In front of 15,000 people there to see the fireworks of the other two groups. https://jrirwin.com/remembering-zappa-and-mahavishnu-at-the-spectrum/

Features very good playing by Benny Bailey and Horace Parlan.

I don't get how they can list a sealed record with absolute certainty of what is inside of the shrinkwrap. There are a couple of sealed Blue Note records with cut corners and the release page lists particulars you could not know unless the record was opened.

Tal Farlow, Hank Jones, Red Norvo, Ray Brown, Jake Hanna “On Stage” Concord cd Recorded live at the Concord Pavillion, Concord, California August 1976 That unique vibe sound of Red Norvo. . . and the great drumming of Jake Hanna, one of my favorites. And oh year, those other. . . masters.

I can't think of any longer serving sidemen, other than the occasional lile Terry Bozzio or Roy Estrada who didn't really go away. When we were kids we generally listened to only to late 1970s to 1980s Zappa, so we all assumed that it was Frank Zappa singing.

Burton Greene: Live At The Woodstock Playhouse 1965. Porter Records PRCD - 4040 [US 2010]

What a great CD! I asked Christian what it was like playing with these two masters and he was almost speechless. He thanked me for reminding him of it. I cringe when I think about how much I had to pay to get this CD. I think it was close to $40 with the shipping.

I was never into Zappa. I suppose it's never too late though. Kinda sad that he didn't take Frank's warnings about prostate cancer to heart. Prostate cancer is one of those cancers that is beatable if caught early enough. Frank was very vocal about how his doctors missed it.

Sometimes I think I'm Sherlock Holmes. But I'm not, and nothing will ever make it so.

I am very fond of Lou's "Blues Walk". I am really glad that i got to see Lou so many times before he retired. He had a great stage presence, even if he repeated a lot of the same stories year after year. That said, I do appreciate the earlier Clifford Brown & Art Blakey dates too. Lou did too. He was not bashful about it.

Distinct personality and musical clarity defines itself.

I agree with Peter. I liked it when he thought he was Charlie Parker. I remember being really impressed by his work with Blakey.

https://www.discogs.com/digs/features/a-jazz-archive-comes-to-discogs A Pittsburgh Collector’s 70,000-Record Jazz Archive Comes to Discogs George spent decades building a 70,000-record jazz archive, and now it’s up for grabs. If you spent any time sifting through records around Pittsburgh in the last several decades, you likely brushed shoulders with George, a quiet fixture of the western Pennsylvania scene. Inside his home, he lived a modest life as a family man with a career, taking the bus everywhere rather than the car, but behind closed doors he curated a 70,000-record archive. George was primarily a jazz collector. During the 1970s and ’80s, when the genre’s popularity waned and Blue Note, Prestige, Strata-East, and Impulse! Records were relegated to the bargain bin, George thrived. He hunted mint copies with relentless dedication, stacking them in his listening room over decades. In his later years… (…continues at link up above, with a few pictures too!)

He realized that he was Lou Donaldson and not Charlie Parker.

Walter Bishop Jr.'s 4th Cycle “Keeper Of My Soul” Black Jazz cd Ronnie Laws, reeds; Woody Murray (Sumtunji), vibes; Walter Bishop Jr., keyboards; Gerald Brown, bass, Fender bass; Bahir Hassan, drums; Shakur M. Abdulla, congas, bongos. Hollywood Spectrum, Los Angeles, CA, released 1973

I am mostly with Lon on this ... and certainly Lou remained in Bird's thrall if the latter 30-40 years of performances are any indication. His setlists included the inevitable soul jazz hits but also copious amounts of Charlie Parker bebop. No Fusion of Con-fusion whatsoever.

Here's a very interesting fact: While the original did not peak on the charts until September and beyond in 1956, by the very beginning of September, the tune had already been covered, on Dot Records, by Rusty Bryant. Haven't tried to find it on youtube yet, it seems like a rarity. But that's a quick new record for something that hadn't even gotten into the top 10.

Dexter Gordon “Dexter Rides Again” Savoy 20 bit lp facsimile cd Baritone Saxophone – Leo Parker Bass – Curly Russell or Gene Ramey Drums – Art Blakey or Eddie Nicholson oe Max Roach Piano – Bud Powell or Sadik Hakim or Tadd Dameron Tenor Saxophone – Dexter Gordon Trumpet – Leonard Hawkins

In my listening I don't think he ever really "abandoned Bird" but moved with the music and market into a harder bop and a more soulful style. I hear bebop foundation still there, with the newer beats and expressiveness. I wonder sometimes where Bird himself would have landed if he could have miraculously been healthier and played on a few decades. . . .