Caracas is an album by jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 saxophonist Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...

, his third recording for the Milestone

Milestone Records

Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings....

 label, featuring Donaldson with Lonnie Smith

Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)

Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...

, Peter Bernstein

Peter Bernstein (guitarist)

-Biography:Born in New York City on September 3, 1967, Peter began playing piano when he was 8 but switched to guitar when he was 13, learning the instrument primarily by ear. He studied Jazz at Rutgers University with Ted Dunbar, and Kenny Barron. He completed his degree at The New School in New...

, Kenny Washington

Kenny Washington (musician)

Kenny Washington is a jazz drummer born in Staten Island, New York.He studied at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts...

, and Ralph Dorsey.

The album was awarded 4 stars in an Allmusic review by Alex Henderson who states "Caracas was recorded in 1993, but it sounds like it could have been recorded 30 years earlier. Regardless, this CD is excellent... Is Caracas essential? Not quite, but it's still a highly rewarding album that will please die-hard soul-jazz enthusiasts".

Track listing

All compositions by Lou Donaldson except as indicated

1. "Hot Dog" - 5:16
2. "Just a Dream" (Big Bill Broonzy
   Big Bill Broonzy
   Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
   
   , Jimmy Clanton
   Jimmy Clanton
   Jimmy Clanton is an American singer who became known as the "swamp pop R&B teenage idol". His band recorded a hit song "Just A Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number four on the Billboard chart and sold a million copies...
   
   ) - 6:19
3. "Ornithology
   Ornithology (composition)
   "Ornithology" is a jazz standard by bebop alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Benny Harris.Its title is a reference to Parker's nickname, "Bird"...
   
   " (Charlie Parker
   Charlie Parker
   Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
   
   ) - 7:07
4. "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
   I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
   "I Don't Know Why " is a popular song.The music was written by Fred E. Ahlert, the lyrics by Roy Turk. The song was published in 1931. It had three periods of great popularity: in 1931, right after its publication; in 1946; and in 1961...
   
   " (Fred E. Ahlert
   Fred E. Ahlert
   Frederick Emil Ahlert was an American composer and songwriter. He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially for Irving Aaronson and his Commanders and then for composer and band-leader Fred Waring...
   
   , Roy Turk
   Roy Turk
   Roy Kenneth Turk was an American songwriter. A lyricist, he frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert – their popular 1928 song "Mean to Me" has become a jazz standard. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics...
   
   ) - 4:58
5. "Night Train
   Night Train (song)
   "Night Train" is a twelve bar blues instrumental standard first recorded by Jimmy Forrest in 1951.-Origins and development:"Night Train" has a long and complicated history. The piece's opening riff was first recorded in 1940 by a small group led by Duke Ellington sideman Johnny Hodges under the...
   
   " (Jimmy Forrest
   Jimmy Forrest
   Jimmy Forrest was an African American jazz musician, who played tenor saxophone throughout his career....
   
   , Lewis Simpkins, Oscar Washington) - 9:49
6. "I Be Blue" - 5:55
7. "Caracas" - 7:32
8. "Lil' Darlin'" (Neil Hefti) - 7:16
   • Recorded in New York City in July 1993.

Personnel

• Lou Donaldson
  Lou Donaldson
  Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...
  
   - alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  , vocals
• Lonnie Smith
  Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)
  Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...
  
   - organ
• Peter Bernstein
  Peter Bernstein (guitarist)
  -Biography:Born in New York City on September 3, 1967, Peter began playing piano when he was 8 but switched to guitar when he was 13, learning the instrument primarily by ear. He studied Jazz at Rutgers University with Ted Dunbar, and Kenny Barron. He completed his degree at The New School in New...
  
   - guitar
• Kenny Washington
  Kenny Washington (musician)
  Kenny Washington is a jazz drummer born in Staten Island, New York.He studied at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts...
  
   - drums
• Ralph Dorsey - congas