The Midnight Creeper [Remaster] by Lou Donaldson (CD, May-2000, Blue Note)

Album Features
UPC:	724352454921
Artist:	Lou Donaldson
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2000
Record Label:	Blue Note
Genre:	Alto Sax, Jazz Instrument

Track Listing
1. Midnight Creeper
2. Love Power
3. Elizabeth
4. Bag of Jewels
5. Dapper Dan

Details
Playing Time:	36 min.
Contributing Artists:	George Benson, Lonnie Smith, Blue Mitchell, Idris Muhammad
Distributor:	EMI Music Distribution
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Lou Donaldson (alto saxophone); Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Lonnie Smith (organ); George Benson (guitar); Idris Muhammad (drums).Producer: Francis Wolf.Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 15, 1968. Originally released on Blue Note (84280). Includes liner notes by Regie Lavong.Digitally remastered using 24-Bit technology by Ron McMaster.Personnel: Lou Donaldson (alto saxophone); George Benson (guitar); Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Dr. Lonnie Smith (organ); Leo Morris (drums).Recording information: New York, NY (03/15/1968); Nj (03/15/1968); Van Gelder Studios, NJ (03/15/1968).Photographer: Joel Brodsky.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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine