Dan Gould

Lou Donaldson - Signifyin' (click here to buy) First, I'd like to say that this "different" AOTW went very well, from my perspective, and I hope we can do it again or that someone else will step up with a similar arrangement. I'll start my review first with a few comments and questions regarding LD's Argo/Cadet years. In my opinion, his output for Argo is uniformly excellent and it is very unfortunate that Universal is sitting on this material. Possum Head, Cole Slaw, Blowing In The Wind, Musty Rusty, At His Best, Rough House Blues are all fine albums, and they document an important period in LD's career, as they span the period between his last Blue Note LP, Natural Soul in 1963 and his return in 1967 for the Sweet Slumber and Mr. Shing a ling sessions. Since these dates include both piano and organ accompaniment, (with long-time LD accompanist Herman Foster) they fit stylistically in with the final recordings of his first Blue Note run, whereas upon his return to Blue Note he began to get more and more into the funk and also to cover more current pop tunes like "Ode to Billy Joe" and "Say it Loud", obviously with an eye toward getting hits. One question I have always had is what led to LD's departure from Blue Note. Was there a falling out with Alfred or did Argo offer more money or what? OK, having set his Argo years in some perspective, on to Signifyin'. As soon as the laser brings the first track to life, you know exactly what you are going to get: A PAR-TAY! With its simple but effective repeated phrase that instantly gets your foot tapping and your head bobbing, "Signifyin" starts the festivities off perfectly. This is good time, happy jazz, the kind that LD has done very well for a long time. The sole ballad is "Time After Time" which features Lou only and is done in a short yet effective performance, but then its right back to the party, with a tune with the "Spanish Tinge" that sticks in my mind the most, "Si Si Safronia"-its got that melodic and rhythmic hook that just doesn't let go. The second side kicks off with a bright-tempoed performance of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," with Lou's sweet tone stating the classic Ellington melody, and then its back to the originals, with "I Feel it in my Bones" and then "Coppin a Plea" wrapping up the party in a happy uptempo groove. Signifyin' started things off in a fine way for LD's Argo period. Nevertheless, it is not my favorite. That would probably be Musty Rusty which features Grant Green or At His Best which features what may be Lou's first recorded vocal, on a tune he's performed regularly since, "Wig Blues". I selected Signifyin' because I suspected that the presence of Tommy Turrentine and Big John Patton would appeal to a lot of people here.

Yes, indeed, Jim, that is how it should work. You better do some nominating quick so that person can get moving!

I thought that was you, Marcus. I guess there's no chance you'd sell it back to me, huh?

You might want to consult This Site before casting your ballot.

Interesting. Has he told you how Blakey responded to be turned down not once but twice?

Couldn't find a thread, and this seemed as appropriate a forum as any, so, without any further ado, my latest: I had to go halfway around the world but I found a nice copy of Johnny Griffith Trio, Jazz, on the Workshop Jazz label. Griffith was the pianist in the Motown house band who died just before the Standing in the Shadows of Motown doc premiered, but he always considered himself a jazz man. So, I went searching and just got it yesterday from a Japanese dealer. Its pretty nice, with a cover of "Moment's Notice", a couple of standards, some bluesy originals, plus "Willow Weap for Me" and "Summertime".

I have a Japanese LP of New York Jazz, a nice one for sure. The Billy Mitchell is definitely recommended and I hadn't realized til I read it here that the Cannonball hasn't been reissued before, so that's a must-get for me. From what I've learned about Klemmer's career, it sounds like this first release has the best chance to click with me, but its definitely falling behind the others on the totem poll. I need to check the CDRs and LPs I have and make a decision whether a clean and newly digitalized copy is necessary on the Stitt and Mitchell.

Another interesting one would have been Tough Young Tenors which featured Blanding, Herb Harris, Todd Williams, James Carter joining a Marcus Roberts-led rhythm section. I think everyone had a solo feature and was paired off with someone else on a second tune and then there was a round-robin jam at the end. Kind of a mixed bag-probably some here would find it too Wynton-dominated (even though he's nowhere in sight, almost all of the players were "Wyntonites" at the time) but its got some good tunes and nice blowing. Carter does a nice job on Chelsea Bridge.

An impossible choice but I went with KD (that is until I foolishly clicked on the "null vote" button instead of the "vote" button

Thanks Leanne. I wonder if Pine was the first ...

Kazaa is one of the successors to Napster. Welcome aboard, Evan!

We all know that an extraordinary number of people went through the "University of Blakey" and on to significant careers as leaders. Surely, being asked to join the Messengers was an important, if not critical moment in a lot of people's careers. My question: is anyone known to have turned Blakey's invite down?

B-3er, I hate to admit it but I had this CD and let it go earlier this year in a CD purge. So I would have participated in this one otherwise. The ironic thing is, I can't say that I hated it, it was one of those times where I was listening more with a "do I want to get rid of this?" attitude than a "is it good or not?" attitude.

and salutations.

Well since Moose hasn't nominated my avatar then I certainly will! Stare at the bouncing boobs ... I understand they're a great stress reducer.

Well, you can add me to the list of people motivated to go out and get this one due to the comments made here. Not to say that this was something totally new to me. Far from it, in fact. When I first started dipping my toe (OK, jumping headfirst) into jazz, the Ella and Louis albums were the first ones I heard, essentially. And so among the earliest purchases I made were cassette copies of the Columbia Jazz Masterpiece reissues of Plays WC Handy and Satch Plays Fats. Even though I had seen used copies of the latest reissue, it was this thread that motivated me to finally pick it up and of course I am very happy that I did, and not only to reacquaint myself with such excellent music but also to hear it in such excellent sound. Not much I can say to add to the comments above except to say that this album belongs in all jazz collections, and also to thank Lon for a very fine story and description of this album's significance to him.

I can't deal with Braith. However, I cannot understand how anyone could get rid of Star Brite which has excellent compositions and superlative Mobley and Wynton Kelly.

Yes! And I have seen reissues of Cos' best LPs at some used CD stores, $8 doesn't often bring that much laughter! I'd have to transcribe it but anyone who has Robin Williams two-disc set from last year heard a flat out hysterical description of how a drunken Scottsman invented golf.

I have no advice, but thanks for posting this anyway. My wife loves Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and horror movies in general. Looked this up on the All Movies site and it looks straight up her alley. I'll definitely keep an eye out for this on ebay and either stash it away or give it to her when I find it.

This poll shall run until 6 pm, Eastern Time, Thursday, June 5 at which point a final winner will be determined. Please remember that interested parties are asked to contact me via PM regarding this Album of the Week. ********************************* Well folks, there you have it. The winner and the Album of the Week for June 15-21st is Lou Donaldson, Signifyin'. I'll start a new thread closer to the start of the AOTW. Thanks to everyone and all are invited to contact me via PM about this AOTW.

Well, one can say that in this age of Britney, *all* jazz artists are "Talents Deserving Wider Recognition." But the fact is that Horace Silver certainly he made his reputation in the fifteen years following his 1954 DB New Star award. Many of his albums have been reissued in the CD age and as you say, he had just finished a series of 5 albums for a major label. Being touted as "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in 1999 was asinine. *************************** Well, I did some digging and while I haven't found the first DB letter, I did find this, published by Jazztimes in June 1999 (guess I was writing a lot back then!) Always thought I turned some nice phrases in that letter myself, if I do say so

Yup, that be me! I can't believe you found that and figured out it was me! (Nice to know I have a recognizable writing style though It would take some digging, but if I can find them I'll post them, I did have another Downbeat letter published, this time criticizing them for some non-jazz artist they put on the cover. I also had one published in Jazztimes, not a critique but rather a response to an article about Scott Hamilton and his troubles with reeds. I had seen Scott right around that time and shared a story about it.

I was going to post a link to the AOTW poll but then I noticed your request was for "obscure, in print" items. One that comes to mind is a very fine piano trio LP of Wayne Shorter tunes, Footprints by the Michael Cochrane Trio. Its on Steeplechase.

VERY bad, IMO. The old site "fit" with everything else they did to promote an image; it was clean and classy. This is busy and ugly, and it does look like it was taken from a lame webshop template. Ugh.

Miles Davis came from across the river in East St Louis.