Mike LeDonne & The Groover Quartet: That Feelin'

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Joe Farnsworth (d)
Eric Alexander (ts)
Vincent Herring (as, ts)
Mike LeDonne (p, org)
Peter Bernstein (g)

Label:

Savant

February/2017

Catalogue Number:

SCO 2159

RecordDate:

June 2016

This is LeDonne's eighth Savant album as a leader and he's dedicated it to his disabled daughter, Mary, for whom he founded a Disability Pride Parade in New York last July. It's his regular Groover Quartet with Alexander and Farnsworth plus, on three titles, the equally blues-conscious altoist Vincent Herring. The opening two tracks are particularly strong, both LeDonne originals – ‘I'd Never Change a Thing About You’ and the superb title-track, ‘That Feelin'’. He also likes to adapt R&B/pop songs and the soul classic ‘La La Means I Love You’ (one of my favourite Thom Bell tunes) is almost unrecognisable in LeDonne's arrangement, but Alexander's solo still swings like mad. Donald Byrd's ‘Fly Little Bird Fly’ (which seems to be being covered a lot these days) has fierce solos and is followed by a very down-grooved Ray Brown blues, which originated on a Brown-Milt Jackson LP called Much in Common and an uptempo LeDonne tribute to altoist Lou Donaldson (‘Sweet Papa Lou’), which has a gospel-cum-New Orleans feel. ‘At Last’, the only ballad, is sensitively handled, with Peter Bernstein giving one of his best performances on the record. Mike LeDonne is a very impressive and creative organist and, of its kind, this is a most enjoyable album, with excellent liner notes by Cadence's Larry Hollis.

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