1.    "Alligator Boogaloo" - 6:57
2.    "One Cylinder" - 6:48
3.    "The Thang" - 3:34
4.    "Aw Shucks!" - 7:23
5.    "Rev. Moses" - 6:27
6.    "I Want a Little Girl" - 4:29

Personnel:
    Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
    Melvin Lastie - cornet (#1-5)
    Lonnie Smith - organ
    George Benson - guitar
    Leo Morris – drums

Somewhere between the soul-jazz of the early sixties (often called "funk" in its day) and the disco of the mid-seventies, funk jazz was born. Rock was already crossing over into jazz. And it just made sense that rock would inject soul jazz with a greater sense of urgency and a stronger feel for the groove.

Funk had that thing that made soul and any other kinds of dance music what it was - a deep, true conviction to getting you moving.

The birth of funk can probably be traced back to 1967 when bop saxophonist Lou Donaldson hit big with Alligator Boogaloo. It was the start of a movement - and, to many, the demise of the legendary Blue Note label. Jazz labels like Blue Note, Prestige and Atlantic, who were staying alive selling R&B records, recognized the value of funk instantly. --- dougpayne.com

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A1 Blowin' In The Wind 3:52
A2 Who Can I Turn To 4:21
A3 The Wheeler-Dealer 3:50
A4 Passing Zone 3:51
B1 Hello, Dolly! 4:53
B2 Relaxing In Blue 8:40
B3 Herman's Mambo 4:47

Alto Saxophone – Lou Donaldson
Bass – Sam Jones
Congas – Richard Landrum
Drums – Leo Morris
Piano – Herman Foster

Recorded: August, 1966, at RCA Custom Studios, New York City

Blowing in the Wind is perhaps the most curious and oddly compelling of the dates Lou Donaldson cut for Cadet during his mid-'60s exile from the Blue Note stable -- a mish-mash of contemporary pop hits, stage favorites, and standards all packaged in a bizarrely Picasso-like cover, the record's inconsistencies and contradictions make for an experience that's unique even in the context of Donaldson's erratic and eclectic oeuvre. The rollicking and buoyant reading of the Bob Dylan perennial which lends the set its title is completely wide of the mark -- Donaldson's arrangement is so upbeat and feather light, it's as if he never even glanced at the song's original lyrics, yet at the same time the groove is genuinely funky, and it's arguably the record's most truly soulful moment. A close second is the Donaldson original "The Wheeler-Dealer," which benefits from Sam Jones' "Duke of Earl"-inspired bass and its composer's blistering alto leads; although an ill-conceived rendition of "Hello Dolly" is forced and insipid, the group redeems itself with the lovely "Relaxin' in Blue," a 12-bar blues notable for the grace and restraint of its solos. ---Jason Ankeny, AllMusic Review

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1. Lou’s Blues 
2. Be My Love 
3. Idaho 
4. The Nearness Of You 
5. Mack The Knife            play
6. Crosstown Shuffle 
7. Tangerine

Credits:
Lou Donaldson (alto sax) 
Blue Mitchell (trumpet) 
Horace Parlan (piano) 
Laymon Jackson (bass) 
Dave Bailey (drums) 
Ray Barreto (conga)

Recorded October 31, 1959 by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

For the Jazz world, 1959 was a pivotal year, with the recording of "Kind of Blue", "Giants Steps" (recorded in May 1959), Mingus recording "Ah Um", the appearance of Ornette Coleman in NY, and recordings by Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra, that did not get wide attention but pointed in the direction of change. It was also in that year that Martin Luther King traveled to India to study Ghandi's legacy, and the year in which the TV documentary "The Hate That Hate Produced", about the Nation of Islam, brought Malcolm X into public awareness.

But for Lou Donaldson, 1959 was a time to present his developing style that came from Charlie Parker, and became more personal as time went by. A year earlier he recorded "Blues Walk" which showed him to be one of bluesier and smoother alto players around, and he stuck with this line of playing for the rest of his career.

This CD features Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Ray Barreto on congas, Horace Parlan on piano, Laymon Jackson on bass and Dave Bailey on drums. The group sounds relaxed and tight, with the conga sound adding to the groove. Blue Mitchell plays well as usual, and Horace Parlan , who was just leaving Mingus after two years, follows the the Horace Silver model without sounding the same.

The sound of the band is a more relaxed version of the Jazz Messengers (in which Donaldson played before), with Lou's bright alto leading the way. All his solos are good, showing the Parker influence without too many cliches, but for me his high point comes when playing "Mack The Knife", where his sound and lyricism are at their best. Blue Mitchell's solo on this tune is also full of energy and feeling. This is a very good choice for anyone interested in post bop, in good alto playing, and in music in general.

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A1 	Light-Foot 	
A2 	Hog Maw False Start 	
A3 	Hog Maw 	
A4 	Mary Ann 	
B1 	Green Eyes
B2 	Walking By The River
B3 	Day Dreams
B4 	Stella By Starlight

Alto Saxophone – Lou Donaldson
Bass – Peck Morrison
Congas – Ray Barretto
Drums – Jimmy Wormworth
Piano – Herman Foster

In many ways, Blues Walk marked the culmination of Lou Donaldson's prime period as a hard-driving, straight-ahead bop saxophonist. Until that point, he had been turning out intense, furious bop workouts -- afterward, as its successor Light Foot shows, he began to slow down a bit. With Light Foot, Donaldson still was pretty firmly grounded in bop, but the tempos began to slow down, and his blues influence came to the forefront; furthermore, the bop tracks are hard bop, not straight bop, which tended to dominate his previous recordings. That diversity makes Light Foot an interesting listen, but the record suffers from slightly uneven material and performances. His quintet -- featuring pianist Herman Foster, bassist Peck Morrison, drummer Jimmy Wormsworth, and conga player Ray Barretto -- is usually up to the task at hand, but they tend to play conventionally. And, ultimately, that's what Light Foot is -- an entertaining but conventional release from an alto saxophonist capable of greatness. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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1. Ode to Billie Joe (6:33)
2. Humpback (5:28)
3. Shadow of Your Smile (6:25)
4. Peepin' (8:21)
5. Kid (10:59)

Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
Blue Mitchell - trumpet
Jimmy Ponder - guitar
Lonnie Smith - organ
Idris Muhammad (listed as Leo Morris) – drums

This October 27, 1967, recording was always the best of Lou Donaldson's funky albums. It's just amazing — given the material and the awful cover art — that Blue Note put this back into circulation at all. If for nothing else, Mr. Shing-A-Ling is worth the investment for the ultra-funking "Peepin'" alone (featured for the first time on CD in last year's terrific The Best of Lou Donaldson Vol. 2 ). Composer and organist Lonnie Smith lays down a basic fatback groove and manages to glean a funk anthem that set the foundation for a whole decade worth of Lou Donaldson LPs ("Midnight Creeper" is a mere rewrite of this classic). Among Donaldson's big funk classics — "Midnight Creeper," "Brother Soul" and "The Caterpillar" — "Peepin'" reigns supreme.

The groove sets the tone for its talented principals to really strut their stuff: Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Jimmy Ponder on guitar and Idris Muhammed on drums. The credit goes to Donaldson, a talented original who learned from Bird how to structure clever solos and taught by example how to get his group to deliver one infectious line after another. This group even invests corny, overplayed tunes like "Ode to Billie Joe" and "The Shadow of Your Smile" with foot-tapping good groove. Mr. Shing-A-Ling is a hearty brew of some steaming funk. ---Douglas Payne, allaboutjazz.com

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1. Funky Mama (9:08)
2. Love Walked In (5:12)
3. Spaceman Twist (5:38)
4. Sow Belly Blues (10:13)
5. That's All (5:35)
6. Nice 'n' Greasy (5:26)
7. People Say We're In Love (7:53)

Musicians:
Lou Donaldson - alto sax
Tommy Turrentine - trumpet
Grant Green - guitar
Big John Patton - organ
Ben Dixon – drums

Throughout the ‘60s, Blue Note pretty much held a monopoly on both of hard bop's children: modal jazz (of the Jackie McLean variety) and soul jazz (John Patton, Lou Donaldson and company). Of course, the soul jazz community does not limit itself to the simple pleasures of R&B party records, the reason why clean vinyl copies of Harold Vick and Fred Jackson records aren't a dime a dozen. There is a difference between, say, the approaches of Patton and Don Wilkerson on one hand, and Jimmy Smith and Lou Donaldson on the other. The former offer a straighter, greasier format and the latter a funkiness still firmly rooted in Bud Powell and Charlie Parker. At Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1962, the two strains of soul jazz met and The Natural Soul is the result.

On this session, the second date Lou Donaldson made with an organ combo, he is joined by the cream of the crop: Patton, guitarist Grant Green, drummer Ben Dixon, and hard bop trumpeter Tommy Turrentine (yes, that Turrentine). Green, Patton, and Dixon were, like the Jimmy Smith Trio, one of the most prevalent organ trios of the period, offering a simpler, grittier R&B over Smith's far-flung virtuosity.

This is not a pejorative account of the group's ability; Green is the Mal Waldron of guitar, emphatically repeating phrases with an almost minimalist intensity, and Patton's soloing is certainly not fettered by his idiom. Donaldson comes out of the post-Bird bag, with a strong affinity for the biting tone of a young Jackie McLean and a humorous lyricism that has echoes of Sonny Rollins.

Turrentine might be the least familiar player here, a brassy post-Brownie player who worked regularly with his brother in the early '60s, as well as with pianist Horace Parlan and, oddly, Archie Shepp. In addition to three standards, the group hits a comfortingly steaming version of Patton's hit "Funky Mama," two Donaldson originals, and the obscure Latin jazz pianist Johnny Acea's "Nice and Greasy." Though the band's funkier tunes are, obviously, what most people come for, one is left with a clearer grasp of the jazz chops of all involved: a brief but weird and engaging statement by Patton on "Love Walked In," for example. The more time the group has to stretch out, the more interesting the solos become - "Funky Mama" and "Sow Belly Blues" each clock in at around ten minutes and, not coincidentally, Patton and Green rip, especially on the latter.

If you're looking for two sides of yeh-yeh, The Natural Soul isn't quite it. But if you're looking for a rollicking jazz record with serious blowing that can double as music for the next cocktail-party bacchanal, then it certainly fits the bill. For prospective listeners less familiar with organ combos and more so with bop, this set offers a happy medium between the two - equal parts Ray Charles and Charlie Chan. ---Clifford Allen, allaboutjazz.com

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