jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
Lou Donaldson
Louis Andrew Donaldson Jr. (November 1, 1926 – November 9, 2024) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He was best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was he ...
recorded for the
Blue Note
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...
label and performed by Donaldson's Quintet with pianist
Herman Foster
Herman Foster (April 26, 1928 – April 3, 1999) was an American bebop jazz pianist.
He was blinded during childbirth through the carelessness of a doctor. He began his musical career early playing the violin, clarinet, saxophone, and piano ...
, bassist
Peck Morrison
John A. "Peck" Morrison (September 11, 1919 – February 25, 1988) was an American jazz bassist.
Morrison was classically trained, and was competent on trumpet and percussion in addition to bass. He played in military bands in Italy during World ...
, drummer
Jimmy Wormworth
James Edward Wormworth III (born August 14, 1937, in Utica, New York) is an American jazz drummer. He was described by Leonard Feather in 1960 edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Jazz'' as "One of the most promising young drummers on the New York scen ...
and congalero
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
.
Reception
The contemporaneous ''
DownBeat
''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
'' reviewer, John S. Wilson, suggested that the material chosen for the album did not allow Donaldson's potential to be fully realized. The album was awarded 3 stars by
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
in an
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
review which stated "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."Erlewine, S. T.
Allmusic Review
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...
accessed December 4, 2009.
Track listing
:''All compositions by Lou Donaldson except as indicated''
# "Light-Foot" - 5:35
# "Hog Maw" - 7:39
# "Mary Ann" - 6:41
# "Green Eyes" ( Nilo Menendez, Adolfo Utrera) - 5:21
# "Walking by the River" (
Una Mae Carlisle
Una Mae Carlisle (December 26, 1915 – November 7, 1956) was an American jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter.
Early life
Carlisle was born in Zanesville, Ohio, the daughter of Mellie and Edward Carlisle. She was of African and Native America ...
,
Robert Sour
Robert Sour (1905 – 1985) ''The New York Times'', March 8, 1985. was a
) - 5:39
# "Day Dreams" (
Herman Foster
Herman Foster (April 26, 1928 – April 3, 1999) was an American bebop jazz pianist.
He was blinded during childbirth through the carelessness of a doctor. He began his musical career early playing the violin, clarinet, saxophone, and piano ...
) - 5:00
# "
Stella by Starlight
"Stella by Starlight" is a popular jazz standard with music by Victor Young that was drawn from thematic material composed for the main title and soundtrack of the 1944 Paramount Pictures film ''The Uninvited (1944 film), The Uninvited''. Appearin ...
" (
Ned Washington
Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Life and career
Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Be ...
,
Victor Young
Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Young was posthumously awarded the ...
) - 5:50
:*Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ on December 14, 1958.
Personnel
Musicians
*Lou Donaldson -
alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...
*
Herman Foster
Herman Foster (April 26, 1928 – April 3, 1999) was an American bebop jazz pianist.
He was blinded during childbirth through the carelessness of a doctor. He began his musical career early playing the violin, clarinet, saxophone, and piano ...
-
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
*
Peck Morrison
John A. "Peck" Morrison (September 11, 1919 – February 25, 1988) was an American jazz bassist.
Morrison was classically trained, and was competent on trumpet and percussion in addition to bass. He played in military bands in Italy during World ...
-
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*
Jimmy Wormworth
James Edward Wormworth III (born August 14, 1937, in Utica, New York) is an American jazz drummer. He was described by Leonard Feather in 1960 edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Jazz'' as "One of the most promising young drummers on the New York scen ...
-
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
-
congas
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...
Production
*
Alfred Lion
Alfred Lion (born Alfred Löw; April 21, 1908 – February 2, 1987) was a German-born American record executive who co-founded the jazz record label Blue Note in 1939. Lion retired in 1967, having sold the company, after producing recordings by le ...
Reid Miles
Reid Miles (July 4, 1927 – February 2, 1993) was an American graphic designer and photographer best known for his work for Blue Note Records in the 1950s and 1960s.
Biography
Miles was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1927, but, follow ...
-
design
A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...
*
Rudy Van Gelder
Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including Booker Ervin, John Coltrane, Mil ...
-
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
*
Francis Wolff
Francis Wolff (April 5, 1907 – March 8, 1971) was a record company executive, photographer and record producer. Wolff's skills, as an executive and a photographer, were important contributions to the success of the Blue Note record label.
Car ...
-
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...