Lou Donaldson at Herbst Theater last night capped off -- and bested -- three concert evenings in a row. We took our kids because JP moved away and wasn't using his tickets any more. They were not as thrilled but it was fine except when my son was plugging his ears ostentatiously.
Anyway, it was the quartet I mentioned above but with Matt Bianchi on B3. They were all excellent musicians but the guitar had too much of a honey-drenched tone too much of the time. The drummer was great.
The man himself was a character in every way, and was in complete control of the band. They came out and launched into Blues Walk, which was awesome but a little tame. At the end of the song, Lou held up his arms like he was going to signal the final note but kept play-acting and trying to trick them with feints and such before the ultimate perfectly timed ending. He played great and had some really nice solos. He is a happy man at 83 but joked that Blues Walk and other of his songs are on Blue Note records so go buy them "because I need the money."
The set list is below with some comments for JP and Reks who were pining for having missed it. On that note, Reks, he complimented SF for being an astute jazz town and then said, "for jazz, you've got NY City, then Chicago and then all the way to SF and nothing in between!" Sad but true. Sorry about that.
Set list:
Blues Walk
Introductions -- "we will play straight ahead jazz with no fusion or confusion. No Spyro Gyra, no Kenny G, no Snoop Doggy Dog, no 50 Cent who ain't worth a quarter."
We (Charlie Parker tune)
Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong, in trubte to the greatest jazz musician and possibly greatest musician yet to live)
Fast and Free -- LD tune, "it's gonna be fast, but nit all that free." Great and extended drum solo.
Whiskey Drinkin Woman -- LD played some blues and how some people forget where jazz came from, then talked about the blues while the band plated on and then he sang this song. Fantastic stuff.
Alligator Bogaloo -- buy the album, LD needs the money!
A Quick One -- he said the management asked fir an intermission even though the band was si hot they could play 2-3 more hours, so he said they would play for the first time on the West Coast the intermission song from Mintons that they used when the band had been drinking too much beer. After the buildup, it was a one-note crescendo and they left the stage.
Love (made famous by Nat King Cole)
Gravy Train -- LD tune written on a monotonous train ride. The drummer nailed the locomotive beat.
It Was a Dream Baby -- This was another blues followed by LD singing a great song "about a man who smoked too much of those cigarettes with no name on 'em. You know the ones I mean."
Once I Had a Secret Love (band's choice -- trio w/o LD)
Bye Bye Blackbird -- "Made famous by Miles Davis when he played jazz." lol Lou. Great song and a beautiful quiet but fast solo.
Finale was a standard that I recognized but can't name. LD said before that song that it was about time to retire but he had a great time. I believe he meant retire for the evening because the man is very spunky and has plenty of chops.
Surreptitious iPhone photo for Reks:
