3:33⅓ - Vinyl from Lou Donaldson on Occasion of His Birthday

Applause Music was the Jazz/Classical side of Cheapo when they basically owned both sides of the block over at Snelling and Saratoga. I worked at Applause for a holiday season with an absolute jazz snob who taught me so much and only made me feel slightly like an idiot for not knowing everything yet by the time I was 17 years old. I bought a Lou Donaldson record during my run there and I fell in love with it. It was funky, it was easier to enjoy than some of the stuff I was trying to turn myself on to. It was exciting, it was enthralling and it was the first time I realized a non-vocalist, non-rhythm section member could themselves be funky. Today is his 96th birthday and he’s still with us. Thanks for showing me more sides of the funk Lou!

Otis Spann album cover.