Say It Loud!

So, way back in the 80s someone decided it would be great to reissue Lou Donaldson's 1968 session Say It Loud on cassette and, because I have yet to score the vinyl and it's not currently on CD, I'll take it where I can get it! This is an old library version, and by the looks of it, it was an early cassette reissue. I love the A-side black/B-side white thing! I do not love the complete lack of liner notes and performing listings! Instead, this cassette came with a paragraph that discussed Lou Donaldson's tone. Alrighty then.

Here's the lineup:

Blue Mitchell (tp) Lou Donaldson (el-as) Charles Earland (org) Jimmy Ponder (g) Leo Morris [Idris Muhammad] (d) Englewood Cliffs, N.J., November 6, 1968

Say It Loud fits perfectly into Donaldson's format of the day: open with a cover that features group vocals--James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and Proud" here--follow with funky versions of a couple of standards--"Summertime," "Caravan"--then put a couple of funky ones on the B side--"Snake Bone," and "Brother Soul."

It's not the greatest Donaldson album of the period, but that's not to say it's not a great album. Really, it's still much better than 90% of the music that comes out today. I particularly like hearing Idris Muhammad on this one, he's really digging deep in his New Orlean's second line bag on "Snake Bone" and "Brother Soul," mixing the funky beats with lots of snare drum in a way that most drummers would never conceive of doing. Also, Donaldson sounds great on the Varitone, especially when he digs in on "Caravan."

Link is in comments. Enjoy