Lou Donaldson - Midnight Creeper (1968) [2014 SHM-CD 24-192 Remaster] CD-Rip

Funky genius from Lou Donaldson – one of his first funky albums for Blue Note, and a real killer all the way through! The album has a great young group working with Lou – players that include Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Lonnie Smith on organ, Leo Morris (aka Idris Muhammed) on drums, and George Benson on guitar – grooving with that really soulful early sound of his! The album has that hard Lou Donaldson funky sound that still sounds fantastic today – and titles include "Dapper Dan", "Midnight Creeper", "Bag of Jewels", and "Love Power".

As he delved deeper into commercial soul-jazz and jazz-funk, Lou Donaldson became better at it. While lacking the bite of his hard bop improvisations or the hard-swinging funk of Alligator Bogaloo, Midnight Creeper succeeds where its predecessor, Mr. Shing-A-Ling failed: it offers a thoroughly enjoyable set of grooving, funky soul-jazz. The five songs – including two originals by Donaldson and one each by Lonnie Smith (who also plays organ on the record), Teddy Vann, and Harold Ousley – aren't particularly distinguished, but the vibe is important, not the material. And the band – Donaldson, Smith, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, guitarist George Benson, and drummer Leo Morris – strikes the right note, turning in a fluid, friendly collection of bluesy funk vamps. Donaldson could frequently sound stilted on his commercial soul-jazz dates, but that's not the case with Midnight Creeper. He rarely was quite as loose on his late-'60s/early-'70s records as he is here, and that's what makes Midnight Creeper a keeper.

Tracks:

01 - Midnight Creeper
02 - Love Power
03 - Elizabeth
04 - Bag of Jewels
05 - Dapper Dan

Personnel:

Lou Donaldson - alto sax
Blue Mitchell - trumpet
Lonnie Smith - organ
George Benson - guitar
Leo Morris (Idris Muhammad) - drums