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“Blues Walk” is considered Lou Donaldson's masterpiece and marks the turning point at which the great alto saxophone virtuoso began to move away from the style of Charlie Parker by adding those dark and unmistakably bluesy sounds that would later become his trademark. The element that has elevated “Blues Walk” to the status of a great jazz work is its stirring warmth: the six pieces on the program seem tailor-made to underscore the wonderful melodic vein of Donaldson's instrument and to make even the most innovative elements of his style sound spontaneous and very pleasant.
Many experts consider the swinging title track, “Play Ray” and “Callin' All Cats” to be the most representative works by Donaldson – even when compared to his great soul jazz successes of the late 1960s. Lou Donaldson had already led seven Blue Note sessions when he recorded “Blues Walk” with Herman Foster (piano), Peck Morrison (bass), Dave Bailey (drums) and Ray Barretto (congas). The six pieces are still clearly in the bebop style, but are consistently brilliant and original. The album recordings for Blue Note took place on July 28, 1958 at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series”, Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for the analog reissues of Blue Note US such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited-edition UHQCD.
1. Blues Walk
2. Move
3. The Masquerade Is Over
4. Play Ray
5. Autumn Nocturne
6. Callin’ All Cats