LOU DONALDSON - Sassy Soul Strut (1973) lp | 24bits-192hz | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Sassy Soul Strut pairs Lou Donaldson with arranger George Butler to create a smooth, unabashedly commercial session some distance removed from the saxophonist's classic soul-jazz efforts. Emphasizing electric instruments and radio-friendly rhythms, the album nevertheless plays to Donaldson's strengths, focusing more on mood and texture and less on funk. Opening with a gutbucket rendition of Quincy Jones immortal "The Streetbeater" (far better known as the theme to television's Sanford and Son), Sassy Soul Strut quickly settles comfortably into a light, accessible mode too lively to dismiss as smooth jazz but too mellow to pass as anything else. Butler's arrangements haven't dated particularly well, but the record's too innocuous and good-natured to qualify as an outright failure. It's simply forgettable, nothing more and nothing less. Jason Ankeny
Tracklist :
1     Sanford And Son Theme 7:02
Quincy Jones    
2     Pillow Talk 3:51
Sylvia Robinson    
3     Sassy Soul Strut 4:37
Lou Donaldson    
4     Good Morning Heartache 2:33
Ervin Drake / Dan Fisher / Irene Higginbotham
5     City, Country, City 9:08
Lou Donaldson    
6     This Is Happiness 5:20
Tadd Dameron    
7     Inner Space 6:52
Lou Donaldson
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lou Donaldson
Electric Guitar – David Spinozza, John Tropea
Electric Piano – Horace Ott
Electric Piano, Piano, Organ – Paul Griffin
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Horace Ott

LOU DONALDSON - Sweet Lou (1974) lp | 24bits-192hz | FLAC (tracks), lossless

An examination of the famous Blue Note catalog reveals that, on the average, the style of music featured on Lou Donaldson's Sweet Lou is just as typical to the label as the recordings for which it is justifiably renowned. Few would remember the label at all if every Blue Note title was candy of the Sweet Lou sort, these sorts of productions and arrangements bringing to mind a cookie-cutter production line. Still, the passing of time has been in some ways been kind to these efforts, blurring the original impression given of careers headed downhill. Donaldson's tone on alto saxophone, regardless of setting, sounds like Charlie Parker after he has spent the night stuffed into one of those jars of pickled eggs on the menu in particularly hardcore bars. He stuffs banal compositions on this program such as "If You Can't Handle It, Give It to Me" with sublime Kansas City jazz blues licks as if festooning a National Guard unit with candy bar wrappers. The 1974 setting, following standard operating procedure for the period, is a nougat of trumpet and trombone charts plus a funky rhythm section infiltrated by trendy clavinet and synthesizer sounds. During two sessions a week apart, overlapping waves of session musicians nudged into each other's breathing room, ringers such as ex-bandleader Buddy Lucas blasting harmonica licks into the ears of A-team guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken. Bernard "Pretty" Purdie played drums on some of this, leaving behind shards of ingenuity that in some cases represent the main reason subsequent generations of listeners returned to this material, its initial impact and subsequent shelf life roughly equal to that of a baggage clam stub. Coming back from a "Hip Trip," however, a traveler may want to save such an item to trigger fond memories, in this case of nicely executed cover of a tune by Don Patterson, ace jazz organist. Things fall into place nicely on the closing "Peepin' Herman's Mambo," any variation on the Afro-Cuban jazz gestalt being as familiar to the Blue Note hellions as rice at a wedding. Furthermore, it swings. Starting over again, "You're Welcome, Stop on By" is a cover version of a funk hit associated with Bobby Womack, the presence of a female vocal team as alluring as signs announcing a chemical spill ahead. A commercial influence of a more pleasing nature is the continual copping from Stevie Wonder. Eugene Chadbourne  
Tracklist :
1     You're Welcome, Stop On By 3:57
Truman Thomas / Bobby Womack    
2     Lost Love 5:49
Lou Donaldson    
3     Hip Trip 6:30
Don Patterson    
4     If You Can't Handle It, Give It To Me 3:55
Lou Donaldson    
5     Love Eyes 3:59
Mark "Moose" Charlap / Norman Gimbel    
6     Peepin' 6:13
Lonnie O. Smith    
7     Herman's Mambo 4:40
Herman Foster
Credits :
Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax] – Lou Donaldson (pistas: 2)
Backing Vocals [Singers] – Barbara Massey, Bill Davis, Carl Williams Jr., Eileen Gilbert, Eric Figueroa, Hilda Harris, William Sample
Clavinet – Paul Griffin
Congas [Cga], Vibraphone [Vib], Percussion [Perc] – Unidentified
Drums – Bernard Purdie, Jimmie Young
Electric Bass [Fender Bass] – Wilbur Bascomb
Electronic Wind Instrument [El-as (Electronic Alto Sax)] – Lou Donaldson
Flute, Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax] – Arthur Clark, Seldon Powell
Guitar – Cornell Dupree, Dave Spinozza, Hugh McCracken
Harmonica – Buddy Lucas
Keyboards, Synthesizer – Horace Ott
Trombone – Garnett Brown
Trumpet – Danny Moore, Ernie Royal, Joe Shepley

ETTA JONES - Sugar (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Etta Jones' long string of recordings during the final part of her career for Muse and High Note are some of the most rewarding of her life. Her voice was naturally not as youthful as earlier and her range gradually shrunk, but she was very soulful and had a way of wailing out notes that made each song her own. On Sugar, the first four numbers have her joined by a rhythm section that is hurt slightly by Horace Ott's dated-sounding keyboards. The other four numbers have more suitable accompaniment by pianist Stan Hope. However tenor saxophonist Houston Person is a consistent force throughout and Etta Jones is heard in prime form on both dates. Notable highlights include vocal duets with Earl Coleman ("This Is Always") and Della Griffin ("Side by Side"). by Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     Sugar 4:36
S. Mitchell , E. Alexander , M. Pinkard   
2     So I Love You 6:02
J.C. Coates
3     That's All There Is to That 4:42
Clyde Otis / Kelly Owens
4     All the Way 6:18
Sammy Cahn / James Van Heusen
5     He's Funny That Way 4:20
Neil Moret (Chas. N. Daniels) / Richard A. Whiting
6     Blow Top Blues 5:55
Leonard Feather
7     This Is Always 5:07
Mack Gordon / Harry Warren
8     Side by Side 4:45
H. Woods
Vocals, Guest [Special Guest] – Della Griffin
Credits :
Arranged By [Arrangements], Keyboards – Horace Ott (faixas: 1 to 4)
Arranged By [Arrangements], Piano – Stan Hope (faixas: 5 to 8)
Bass – Peter Martin Weiss (faixas: 5 to 8), Wilbur Bascomb (faixas: 1 to 4)
Congas, Percussion – Ralph Dorsey
Drums – Bertel Knox (faixas: 5 to 8), Cecil Brooks III (faixas: 1 to 4)
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Randy Johnston
Producer, Tenor Saxophone – Houston Person
Vibraphone – George Devens
Vocals – Etta Jones 

JIMMY McGRIFF - Electric Funk (1969-1997) Blue Note Rare Groove Series / APE (image+.cue), lossless

The title of Electric Funk may lead you to believe that it's a set of unrepentant, rampaging hard funk, but that's not quite the case. The record is laid-back but undeniably funky, with Jimmy McGriff and electric pianist Horace Ott leading an unnamed group through a set of soul workouts. It's not jazz, it's jazzy soul, and it's among the funkiest of any soul-jazz records from the late '60s, filled with stuttering drum breaks, lite fuzz guitars, elastic bass, smoldering organ, and punchy, slightly incongruous horn charts. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist :
1    Back On The Track    3:18
Horace Ott
2    Chris Cross    3:46
Horace Ott
3    Miss Poopie    3:16
Horace Ott
4    The Bird Wave    4:02
Jimmy McGriff
5    Spear For Moondog - Part 1    3:29
Jimmy McGriff
6    Spear For Moondog - Part 2    4:04
Jimmy McGriff
7    Tight Times    3:58
Horace Ott
8    Spinning Wheel    3:35
D. C. Thomas
9    Funky Junk    3:47
Horace Ott
Credits :
Organ – Jimmy McGriff
Electric Piano, Arranged By – Horace Ott