Mike LeDonne is one gorgeous organist. You can hear his love of Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff and Don Patterson. But his sound is all his own—always groovy and driving, but never overcooked. The joy of Mike's music is that he has respect for the instrument's tradition, especially as it came into its own in the early 1970s. [Photo above of Mike LeDonne by Jesse W Cahill, courtesy of Mike LeDonne]
Mike's latest is It's All Your Fault (Savant), which was dedicated to the late Dr. Lonnie Smith, who died yesterday (more on Lonnie tomorrow). Recorded in February 2020, just weeks before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, Mike's latest album was released May of this year. I'm just getting to it now because I'm finally digging out from under stacks of work. Mike is joined on tracks here by two groups—his all-star big band and his Groover Quartet.
The big band tracks are LeDonne's It's All Your Fault (a favorite phrase of Lonnie's), Grant Green's Matador, the Michael Jackson hit Rock With You, Lee Morgan's Party Time and Mike's Bags and Brown. The Groover tracks are Lionel Richie's Still, Ambrosia's hit Biggest Part of Me and Mike's Blues for Jed.
The Mike LeDonne Big Band features Jon Faddis, Frank Greene, Joe Magnarelli and Joshua Bruneau (tp); Mark Patterson, Steve Davis, Dion Tucker and Doug Purviance (tb); Steve Wilson and Jim Snidero (as); Eric Alexander and Scott Robinson (ts); Jason Marshall (bar); Mike LeDonne (org); Peter Bernstein (g); John Webber (b) and Joe Farnsworth (d). The Mike LeDonne Groover Quartet includes Eric Alexander (ts), Mike LeDonne (org), Peter Bernstein (g) and Joe Farnsworth (d). [Photo above of Mike LeDonne courtesy of YouTube]
Every track is a smoker that peels out and roars off. The big band arrangements by Dennis Mackrel, who also conducted, have a '70s vibe with horns playing call-and-response riffs with Mike's organ and adding soulful texture throughout. The solos on the album are all first-rate, especially by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and guitarist Peter Bernstein.
Mike's albums always take me back to a time when tasty Prestige organ combo dates featured artists like tenor saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. and trumpeter Virgil Jones. This one is no exception. Mike's playing is so good and saucy, the album should have come with napkins. [Photo above of Dennis Mackrel courtesy of YouTube]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Mike LeDonne's It's All Your Fault (Savant) here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Rock With You...
And here's Still...
Bonus: Here's Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet at Smoke in 2019...
