Lush Life (Lou Donaldson album)
Encyclopedia
Lush Life is an album by jazz
saxophonist Lou Donaldson
recorded for the Blue Note
label in 1967 and featuring Donaldson with Freddie Hubbard
, Garnett Brown
, Jerry Dodgion
, Wayne Shorter
, Pepper Adams
, McCoy Tyner
, Ron Carter
, and Al Harewood
performing arrangements by Duke Pearson
. Due to the success of Donaldson's Alligator Bogaloo
(1967) the album was not released until 1980 in Japan under the title Sweet Slumber and then finally released decades later internationally.
The album was awarded 4½ stars in an Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine who states "With its plush arrangements and unabashedly pretty melodies, Lush Life stands in stark contrast to everything else he cut in the '60s. There are no blues, no stabs at soul-jazz grooves, no hard bop — only sweet, sensitive renditions of romantic standards. Donaldson shone on ballads before, but it's nevertheless surprising how successful he is on this set of slow love songs. His tone is full and elegant — it's easy to get lost in his rich readings of these familiar melodies, as well as his slyly seductive improvisations".
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...
recorded for the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label in 1967 and featuring Donaldson with Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Garnett Brown
Garnett Brown
Garnett Brown is a jazz trombonist who has worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, and others.He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and later studied film scoring and electronic music at UCLA In 1974 he won the Down Beat Reader's poll for trombonist, and...
, Jerry Dodgion
Jerry Dodgion
Jerry Dodgion is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.Dodgion played alto sax in middle school and began working locally in the San Francisco area in the 1950s. He played in bands with Rudy Salvini, John Coppola/Chuck Travis and Gerald Wilson and worked with the Vernon Alley Quartet, who...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Pepper Adams
Pepper Adams
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, and Al Harewood
Al Harewood
Al Harewood is a musician and teacher, born in Brooklyn. As a drummer Harewood worked with many jazz musicians including the J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding group, the Art Farmer/Gigi Grice band, David Amram, and the Curtis Fuller-Benny Golson Sextet...
performing arrangements by Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
. Due to the success of Donaldson's Alligator Bogaloo
Alligator Bogaloo
Alligator Bogaloo is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded for the Blue Note label in 1967 and featuring Donaldson with Melvin Lastie, Lonnie Smith, George Benson, and Leo Morris....
(1967) the album was not released until 1980 in Japan under the title Sweet Slumber and then finally released decades later internationally.
The album was awarded 4½ stars in an Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine who states "With its plush arrangements and unabashedly pretty melodies, Lush Life stands in stark contrast to everything else he cut in the '60s. There are no blues, no stabs at soul-jazz grooves, no hard bop — only sweet, sensitive renditions of romantic standards. Donaldson shone on ballads before, but it's nevertheless surprising how successful he is on this set of slow love songs. His tone is full and elegant — it's easy to get lost in his rich readings of these familiar melodies, as well as his slyly seductive improvisations".
Track listing
- "Sweet SlumberSweet Slumber"Sweet Slumber" is a 1943 song by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra. The song, with vocals by Trevor Bacon, was successful on three charts. "Sweet Slumber" became Lucky Millinder's third number one on the Harlem Hit Parade and number fifteen on the pop charts...
" (Lucky MillinderLucky MillinderLucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
, Al J. NeiburgAl J. NeiburgAllen J. Neiburg was an American lyricist. He was born on 22 November 1902 in St. Albans, Vermont and received his education at Boston University. He is known for writing lyrics for such songs as "I'm Confessin' " , "It's the Talk of the Town" and "Under a Blanket of Blue"...
, Henri Woode) - 5:56 - "You've ChangedYou've Changed"You've Changed" is a popular song originally written by Bill Carey and Carl Fischer in 1941. It has been covered by many singers, including:*Harry James's band with vocals by Dick Haymes *Nat King Cole *Connie Russell...
" (Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) - 4:23 - "The Good LifeThe Good Life (1962 song)"The Good Life" is a popular song by Sacha Distel and 1934 born composer Jack Reardon, published in 1962. It was featured in the movie Seven Capital Sins....
" (Sacha DistelSacha DistelSacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
, Jack Reardon) - 4:53 - "StardustStardust (song)"Stardust" is an American popular song composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics added in 1929 by Mitchell Parish. Originally titled "Star Dust", Carmichael first recorded the song at the Gennett Records studio in Richmond, Indiana...
" (Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
) - 3:40 - "What Will I Tell My Heart" (Irving GordonIrving GordonIrving Gordon was an American songwriter.-Biography:Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he studied violin, and after attending public schools in New York City, went to work in the Catskill Mountains at some of the resort hotels in the area...
, Jack LawrenceJack LawrenceJack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
, Peter Tinturin) - 4:25 - "It Might as Well Be SpringIt Might as Well Be Spring"It Might as Well Be Spring" is a song from the 1945 film, State Fair. With music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year. State Fair was the only original film score by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the film the song was...
" (Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) - 5:58 - "Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Amheim, Jules LeMare, Harry TobiasHarry TobiasHarry Tobias was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame....
) - 5:58 Bonus track on CD- Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on January 20, 1967.
Personnel
- Lou DonaldsonLou DonaldsonLou 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 saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe 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... - Freddie HubbardFreddie HubbardFrederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Garnett BrownGarnett BrownGarnett Brown is a jazz trombonist who has worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, and others.He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and later studied film scoring and electronic music at UCLA In 1974 he won the Down Beat Reader's poll for trombonist, and...
- tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Jerry DodgionJerry DodgionJerry Dodgion is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.Dodgion played alto sax in middle school and began working locally in the San Francisco area in the 1950s. He played in bands with Rudy Salvini, John Coppola/Chuck Travis and Gerald Wilson and worked with the Vernon Alley Quartet, who...
- alto saxophone fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
- tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Pepper AdamsPepper AdamsPark Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
- baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece... - McCoy TynerMcCoy TynerMcCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
- bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Al HarewoodAl HarewoodAl Harewood is a musician and teacher, born in Brooklyn. As a drummer Harewood worked with many jazz musicians including the J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding group, the Art Farmer/Gigi Grice band, David Amram, and the Curtis Fuller-Benny Golson Sextet...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Duke PearsonDuke PearsonDuke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
- arranger