JAZZ REVIEW : Donaldson Set Lacks Something

“This is a jazz band, so don’t expect any Top 40,” said Lou Donaldson after offering a zesty medium-paced version of “Stella by Starlight” to begin a two-night engagement Friday at Birdland West in Long Beach.

The 62-year-old alto saxophonist, who rose to prominence in the early ‘50s with an Art Blakey quintet that also featured trumpeter Clifford Brown, lived up to his word, offering a 75-minute set of mainstream, be-bop-bent music that included several tunes written, or recorded, by Charlie Parker, Donaldson’s main influence.

Donaldson dug into a rip-roaring “Marmaduke,” a complex Parker tune not often heard, and played fast lines that were full of good-sounding notes, at one point dropping in a repeating bluesy lick that wound around in circles like a cat chasing its tail. The ballad “Autumn in New York” was next, and Donaldson went back and forth between blistering double times and oozing, slow passages, an effective ploy.

But, as good as Donaldson was, something was missing. As the set wore on, his other renditions of “Cheek to Cheek,” “My Little Suede Shoes” and “Blue Bossa” were less than inspired, and, at times, one felt the leader was simply going through the motions, rather than digging deep within himself in an attempt to create artistic moments.

Pianist Tardo Hammer, bassist Jeff Fuller and drummer Frank Bennett were a solid back-up crew. Hammer, a Bud Powell-like stylist with an ear for finding the choice notes, played several well-formed solos, though the sound system made it hard to hear him, and Fuller offered a brace of improvisations marked by fluid, horn-like lines.