Lou Donaldson: Alligator Bogaloo – Blue Note 4263

Alligator Bogaloo is very much a product of its time – 1967 – and it is extremely groovy.

Start with the cover. A woman with crazy eye makeup wears a nutty hijab-like getup and is waving her arms like an early-day Bangle walking like an Egyptian. Tres psychedelic.

Well, no surprise there. It’s April 1967. The Summer of Love is about to begin. In two months, Sly and the Family Stone will burst into the public’s consciousness and create modern funk. The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper is two months from blowing everyone’s mind. And James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, is still making everyone feel good.

Enter Lou Donaldson.

If there were a godfather of soul-jazz, Donaldson would be it. He was playing a funky alto sax long before Alligator Bogaloo, back in the hard-bop days of the 1950s, sometimes with Jimmy Smith on organ, and would continue in the same vein long after the fad had passed – probably way too long and way too monotonously.

But not here. Alligator Bogaloo (not boogaloo – go figure) is Lou Donaldson at the pinnacle of the jazz-soul era, with arguably the best and baddest example of the genre. Joining him are guitarist George Benson, still in his funky phase, before he turned soft and schmaltzy, and the ever-feisty Lonnie Smith on organ.

This is soul-jazz for people who love both.

“Alligator Bogaloo,” the song, is a Donaldson original. It starts with a catchy, mod riff and continues with Donaldson’s soulful sax solo. No hint of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins here – just pure R&B boogeying. Melvin Lastie Sr. follows in the same vein on cornet, then Benson reminds you how good and bluesy he was before he sold out. Smith riffs and plays a nice solo to end the piece.

“One Cylinder” is, as the name implies, a one-chord riff. It’s not very clever and, at almost seven minutes, it goes on too long. But it’s more a slow, sensuous piece in the hard bop tradition, with more bluesy work by everyone, especially Benson and Donaldson.

And then we’re back to pure R&B soul. “The Thang,” another Donaldson original, with an irresistible riff and Smith smoking on the Hammond B-3, sounding very much like that other, more famous organist named Smith. If you like Chuck Berry and James Brown, you’ll like “The Thang.”

“Aw Shucks!” is an original tune by Smith, delivering more wailing, slow soul-blues, followed by another Donaldson original, “Rev. Moses,” which (as you might guess from the title) is more gospel than soul or bop. Finally, the gentle, soulful ballad “I Want a Little Girl” takes us out.

You don’t have to love the ‘60s to like Alligator Bogaloo, but it helps. It’s about as fun and accessible as any album ever recorded by Blue Note.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Not hard to find

Cost: $10 new

Lee Morgan – Volume 2: Sextet – Blue Note 1542

No one ever bought a record for its weird song titles. (And if they did, Iron Butterfly’s psychedelic rock classic In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida would be the best seller of all time.) But still, Lee Morgan Volume 2: Sextet deserves some kind of award in that category.

First, there are two songs written by virtual unknown Owen Marshall. “Her Sister” makes you wonder two things: Whose sister? And what is she like? Sexy? Mysterious? Cool? Hard to tell from this tune, which is none of the above, but just a plain old vanilla upbeat hard bop number. Nice, but nothing special. No one you’d write a song for, anyway.

And then there’s the tune “D’s Fink.” Say what? It’s actually a terrific piece – possibly the best on this six-song album – full of nice unison playing and interesting solos. But… “D’s Fink”? Who or what is that?

(One place you won’t find out is in a tribute to Owen Marshall published in the Philadelphia Daily News in 1998, four years after his death. Not a mention of either song. Alas.)

And there’s a song called “Latin Hangover,” which would be an excellent title for a tune with, say, Latin rhythms. Except that this song doesn’t have any. It also isn’t Afro-Cuban jazz, or a samba, or a bassa nova, and there is no instrumentation beyond the usual bop stuff – trumpet, alto, tenor, piano, bass, drums. So “Latin Hangover”? Not hardly. A very lucky thing that record labels are rarely sued for false advertising.

So what is Lee Morgan Volume 2? Absolutely straight-up standard hard bop by a bandleader who was all of 18 when he recorded it in 1956.

Again, like Morgan’s freshman recording, Volume 2 is a perfectly fine, even better-than-average Blue Note bop album, but nothing you’d run out and tell your friends about. The biggest selling points are four songs written by Benny Golson, who does not play in this band, including the debut of “Whisper Not.” In fact, the unison playing and tunesmithing are about the best parts of Volume 2. The solos, even by legendary pianist Horace Silver, are nice but not memorable.

One somewhat interesting note is the introduction of alto saxman Kenny Rodgers, which would be something worth exploring, if his playing was interesting or different. It’s not, and Rodgers hardly ever appeared on record again. So there’s that.

I know, that’s damning with faint praise. I’m sorry. Lee Morgan Volume 2 is a fine record, and if you’re a Lee Morgan completest, you probably own it. For the rest of us, it’s enough to know it exists, to enjoy it once in a great while, and let it go at that.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Easy to find

Cost: $7 new

Jimmy Smith: Midnight Special – Blue Note 4078

The history of jazz is filled with great pairs: Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn – Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker – Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond – Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul.

Add one more to the list: Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine.

Smith was the ground-breaking organist, steeped in the blues, who introduced the Hammond B-3 as a legitimate hard bop alternative to the piano. Turrentine was the legendary tenor saxman, steeped in the blues, who became synonymous with 1960s soul-jazz.

It was inevitable that Smith and Turrentine would find each other.

Together, they created a series of great albums. The one you know best is Back at the Chicken Shack, the 1960 classic that is one of the genuine high points of the soul-jazz movement. The one you don’t know, or know less well, is Midnight Special – another 1960 album from the very same session, featuring the very same lineup: Smith, Turrentine, guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Donald Bailey.

The pleasure starts immediately with the opening number, “Midnight Special,” a slow, blues-soaked affair. Turrentine sets the mood from the start, with a fat, round tone, a down and dirty solo that announces that this may be Smith’s album, but it’s Turrentine’s star vehicle. Smith takes over with a slow and sensuous turn, followed by Burrell’s tasteful, spare guitar work. It is 10 minutes of pure blues heaven.

And then the pace quickens. The second number, written by Turrentine, is called “A Subtle One,” but that’s misleading. It’s faster, bouncier and more boppish – a real toe-tapper. Smith bubbles along, sounding more upbeat. Turrentine takes an almost rock-ish solo. Burrell, the perfect complement to both Smith and Turrentine, follows.

And now the pace gets even faster. “Jumpin’ the Blues” is almost rock ‘n’ roll, which is hardly a surprise. That same year on the Billboard charts, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker were making music history of their own. This is hard bop pure and simple, swift blues (what is rock, after all?), with Smith bouncing crazily on the B-3’s bass pedals.

Finally, as if exhausted by the steady rush of tempos on the previous numbers, Turrentine takes a slow, sad crawl on the Charlie Parker and Jay McShann’s “Why Was I Born.” It is six minutes of stark blues, reflecting the title. And then, to close the album, the bands swings on Count Basie’s retro classic “One O’Clock Jump,” as if to say, hey, it’s all for fun.

And then it’s over, 36 minutes after it begins. Midnight Special is indeed special. It ranks among the best that Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine ever produced, together or separately. Get it.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Easy to find

Cost: Just $3.50 used