ZUM TOD DES US-AMERIKANISCHEN JAZZ-SAXOFONISTEN UND KOMPONISTEN LOU DONALDSON

Der am 1. November 1926 in Badin (North Carolina) geborene US-amerikanische Jazz-Altsaxofonist, Bandleader und Komponist Lou Donaldson (Bild) ist am 9. November 2024 gestorben. In seiner über 70jährigen Karriere spielte er u. a. mit Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith und George Benson. Musiker wie Horace Silver, Clifford Brown, Ray Barretto, Grant Green, Big John Patton, Lonnie Smith, Blue Mitchell und Donald Byrd machten ihre ersten Plattenaufnahmen mit Donaldson. Er war ein Pionier sowohl des Hardbop als auch des Soul-Jazz und ein oft gesampelter Jazz-Musiker. Bekannt ist er für seinen «Blues Walk», den «Alligator Bogaloo», den Song «Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman» und den aus «Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky» gesampelten Ausruf «Funky-funky!» in «Cantaloop» von Us3. (*)

Lou Donaldson, 2009 - Foto: Marek Lazarski - Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en - Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lou_Donaldson_DSC0004a.jpg

Bild: Lou Donaldson, 2009 – Foto: Marek Lazarski – Lizenz:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en – Datei:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lou_Donaldson_DSC0004a.jpg

The great alto saxophonist, NEA Jazz Master, and Blue Note legend Lou Donaldson passed away on November 9 at 98 years old his family has announced. Born in Badin, North Carolina on November 1, 1926, Donaldson’s early style was deeply influenced by Charlie Parker, though he soon developed his own distinctive soulful and bluesy sound on the alto saxophone.

Among Donaldson’s most memorable Blue Note albums are his 1958 hard bop masterpiece Blues Walk featuring the cool struttin’ title track, and Alligator Bogaloo, a 1967 soul jazz classic which featured Smith, young guitar star George Benson, and drummer Leo Morris (aka Idris Muhammad) with whom Donaldson would form a funky affiliation that produced numerous tracks like Ode To Billie Joe, Pot Belly, and It’s Your Thing that would be heavily sampled in hip-hop by artists including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Nas, and others.

https://www.bluenote.com/lou-donaldson-1926-2024/

In Memoriam: Lou Donaldson, 1926-2024

Alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, the final surviving member of the original Art Blakey quintet that in 1954 introduced “hard bop” into the growing jazz lineage of classification, died on Nov. 9 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, eight days after his 98th birthday.

He had planned to attend a 98th birthday celebration at Dizzy’s Club in New York, but cancelled due to an onset of pneumonia shortly before, presumably the cause of his death. He had continued to perform as recently as 2017, when he officially announced his retirement. Since then, his appearances have been confined to occasional salutes and celebrations of his long career.

John McDonough

https://downbeat.com/news/detail/in-memoriam-lou-donaldson-1926-2024

Lou Donaldson, Soulful Master of the Alto Saxophone, Dies at 98

A mainstay of the Blue Note record label at the height of its influence and power, Mr. Donaldson recorded constantly as both a leader and a sideman beginning in 1952. He was a leading voice of the more elemental style that came to be called “hard bop,” an evolution out of the bebop revolution wrought by his inspiration on the alto sax, Charlie Parker. The National Endowment for the Arts named Mr. Donaldson a Jazz Master in 2012.

Barry Singer

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/arts/music/lou-donaldson-dead.html

Lou Donaldson, saxophonist who helped shape jazz, dies at 98

Mr. Donaldson emerged as a bebop protégé of alto saxophone master Charlie Parker and by the early 1950s was acknowledged as a leading proponent of the jazz idiom called hard bop, which blended bebop’s assertive rhythmic pulse with a strutting, blues-flavored harmonic approach.

During the late 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Donaldson became even better known for his “soul jazz” recordings, often with organists, creating a bluesy, danceable style of music that became popular on jukeboxes and in nightclubs. His 1967 recording “Alligator Boogaloo,” with organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and guitarist George Benson, was a minor hit.

Mr. Donaldson, a minister’s son from North Carolina, brought a gospel feel to his music, but he also had training as a classical clarinetist.

Matt Schudel

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/11/11/lou-donaldson-jazz-saxophonist-dead/

Lou Donaldson obituary

The droll, sleek-haired saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who has died aged 98, was disinclined to let a good lick or a good gag wither on the vine. Alongside his immense saxophone eloquence, he possessed a highly entertaining strangled-parrot blues voice, and at gigs in his later years would regularly deliver his vocal party piece, Whisky Drinkin’ Woman. He would then express his gratitude to audiences with the words “glad y’all appreciate classical singing”.

Donaldson had his biggest hit with the soul-jazz anthem Alligator Boogaloo in 1967. He probably stopped changing as a creative jazz artist around this time, but it never mattered that he stayed the same. His show had a rootsy bonhomie that kept it engagingly and unerringly on the road.

John Fordham

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/11/lou-donaldson-obituary

Falleció Lou Donaldson, pionero del soul-jazz

Conocido como “Sweet Poppa Lou” (en referencia al tono distintivo y meloso que extraía de su saxo alto), Donaldson combinó el lirismo del trompetista de la era del swing Johnny Hodges con el atletismo de dedos rápidos del arquitecto del bebop. charlie parker. Sin embargo, más que cualquier otra cosa, Donaldson se veía a sí mismo como una persona que complacía al público: la profunda conmoción del blues y la franqueza emocional de su música le permitieron conectarse con una audiencia más amplia que muchos de sus contemporáneos del jazz, especialmente cuando comenzó a fusionar su música con el R&B y sonidos funk en las décadas de 1960 y 1970, consiguiendo varios álbumes en las listas de éxitos estadounidenses.

Javier Figueroa

https://web.consaguirre.com.ar/noticias/fallecio-lou-donaldson-pionero-del-soul-jazz/

Lou Donaldson, morto il leggendario sassofonista jazz: suonò con Art Blakey e Charlie Mingus

Sassofonista dallo stile potente, i suoi primi lavori sono stati influenzati, come quelli di molti suoi coetanei, da Charlie Parker, anche se il suo sound si è rapidamente spostato verso inclinazioni blues. Trasferitosi a New York, divenne una presenza fissa nei club, esibendosi con i Jazz Messengers di Art Blakey e poi con Charles Mingus, prima di essere invitato a registrare per la Blue Note Records, diventando alla fine uno degli artisti di riferimento del catalogo della casa discografica. Uno dei suoi primi successi fu la registrazione del live A Night At Birdland del 1954.

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2024/11/11/news/lou_donaldson_morto_il_leggendario_sassofonista_jazz-423611007

Mort de Lou Donaldson, prolifique saxophoniste jazz

Apôtre d’un swing sevré de gospel, le compositeur et musicien américain a marqué les années 50 et 60 avant d’être samplé à l’envi par les têtes chercheuses du hip-hop.

Une semaine après avoir fêté le 1er novembre ses 98 ans, Lou Donaldson est mort en Floride des suites d’une pneumonie le 9 novembre. Si le saxophoniste n’était plus depuis bien longtemps en haut de l’affiche, ce prolifique compositeur n’en demeure pas moins l’un de ceux qui auront marqué une époque, les années 50 et 60, dont ses nombreux disques pour le compte de Blue Note représentent des jalons en matière de hard bop.

Jacques Denis

https://www.liberation.fr/culture/musique/mort-de-lou-donaldson-prolifique-saxophoniste-jazz-20241112_SCPDKUG375FN7KRQKGBIMDDTSY/

Direkt ins Herz

Lou Donaldson ist tot, der Saxofonist und Songschreiber, der den Modern Jazz mit dem Blues in die Jukeboxes und Hitparaden brachte. In einer Zeit, als seine Weggefährten die Nervosität und Energie des Bebop auf die Lässigkeit des Hardbop herunterkühlten, brachte er das Fingerschnippen und Mitwippen zurück in die Clubs und mit seinen Platten für das Blue-Note-Label in die Hitparaden. Das war allerdings nicht mehr die Tanzfröhlichkeit aus der Swing-Ära. Donaldson nahm in den späten Fünfzigerjahren schon die Schärfe einer Musik voraus, die James Brown dann in der politischen Wut des Funk als Genre etablierte.

Andrian Kreye

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/lou-donaldson-nachruf-jazz-lux.NR1C61X1WdTSZcAvHhcm2N?reduced=true

Funky, funky

Lou Donaldson prägte den Sound des legendären Labels «Blue Note» als Saxophonist, Bandleader und Vermittler. Den Jazz wollte er vor zu vielen Fusionen bewahren.

Jan Wiele

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/zum-tod-des-jazzsaxophonisten-lou-donaldson-110106008.html

Eminem und Madonna haben sich bei ihm bedient – Jazz-Pionier Lou Donaldson verstorben

Was haben Eminem, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, US3, De La Soul, Run DMC, Cypress Hill und Madonna gemeinsam? Sie alle haben sich bei Lou Donaldson bedient und Teile aus seinem über siebzigjährigen Werkkatalog geplündert. Der Saxofonist gehört denn auch zu den am meisten gesampelten Künstler. Das ist kein Zufall. «Everything I Play Is Funky», der Titel eines Albums von 1970, kann für das Lebenswerk des Musikers durchaus programmatisch verstanden werden.

Stefan Künzli

https://www.watson.ch/international/musik/247774462-nachruf-auf-jazz-pionier-lou-donaldson

Lou Donaldson war ein Vortänzer des Hip-Hop

Was braucht der Jazz, damit er aus den akademischen Wohnzimmern zurück auf die Tanzfläche findet? Lou Donaldson kannte die Antwort dazu schon in den 1960er-Jahren: Er muss tanzbar sein.

Der Saxofonist gehörte zu den am meisten gesampelten Musikern der Welt. Mit seinem Sound traf er den Sweet Spot der Old School Rapper in den 1990er-Jahren, die damals natürlich nicht old school waren, sondern der letzte Schrei. Hier sind fünf der wichtigsten Lou Donaldson-Samples aus dem Hip-Hop. Und einmal mehr der Beweis, dass Jazz schon immer nur von Neidern totgesagt wurde.

Jodok Hess

https://www.srf.ch/kultur/musik/mit-98-jahren-verstorben-lou-donaldson-war-ein-vortaenzer-des-hip-hop-5-beispiele

Audios / Videos:

Words Of Wisdom And Soulful Reflection From ‹Sweet Papa› Lou Donaldson

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/19/733992956/good-gracious-words-of-wisdom-and-soulful-reflection-from-sweet-papa-lou-donalds

Sweet Poppa Lou talks about the musical roots of his swinging bop saxophone sound.

https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/lou-donaldson

«Blues Walk»