Sassy Soul Strut

by Lou Donaldson

Overview

Sassy Soul Strut pairs Lou Donaldson with arranger George Butler to create a smooth, unabashedly commercial session some distance removed from the saxophonist's classic soul-jazz efforts. Emphasizing electric instruments and radio-friendly rhythms, the album nevertheless plays to Donaldson's strengths, focusing more on mood and texture and less on funk. Opening with a gutbucket rendition of Quincy Jones immortal "The Streetbeater" (far better known as the theme to television's Sanford and Son), Sassy Soul Strut quickly settles comfortably into a light, accessible mode too lively to dismiss as smooth jazz but too mellow to pass as anything else. Butler's arrangements haven't dated particularly well, but the record's too innocuous and good-natured to qualify as an outright failure. It's simply forgettable, nothing more and nothing less. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	10/29/2021
Label:	Blue Note / Universal
UPC:	4988031450314

Tracks

1. Sanford & Son Theme (The Streetbeater)
2. Pillow Talk
3. Sassy Soul Strut
4. Good Morning Heartache
5. City, Country, City
6. This Is Happiness
7. Inner Space

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lou Donaldson   Primary Artist
Horace Ott   Conductor

Technical Credits

Sylvia Robinson   Composer
Irene Higginbotham   Composer
Michael Burton   Composer
Dan Fisher   Composer
Ervin Drake   Composer
Lou Donaldson   Composer
Tadd Dameron   Composer
Quincy Jones   Composer