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By Bill Altreuter

To the Lou Donaldson Quartet at the Albright-Knox last night, the second concert in the Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series. Bruce Eaton has been producing these shows for eleven years, and we haven't been disappointed yet. Donaldson is 82, looks 20 years younger, and plays even younger than that, in a blues-funk mode informed by both swing and bebop. What really impressed us was the tight professionalism of his band, which roared into the set and never let up. The guitarist, Randy Johnston, was so good I lost track, amazingly fast, with a great tone and clear articulation. Interestingly two members of the band are Japanese. Fukushi Tainaka, the drummer, was tasteful and exuberant, but the real revelation, for me, was Akiko Tsuruga on the Hammond B-3. She was just loving every moment, and wailing. Sax/Organ combos are popular in Buffalo-- years back there were a number of clubs on Main Street and on the East Side, and Donaldson was a regular at them. The one that is recalled today was the Pine Grill, but Donaldson mentioned several others. This is only the second show in 11 years of the series that has featured the B-3, but for the second time the audience was more heavily African-American than is usual at these concerts. That chitlin circuit sound works best live, when it can really rumble you, and I have to wonder how a woman growing up in Osaka found her way into this music.

Full post as published by Outside Counsel on November 22, 2009 (boomark / email).