Quartet/Quintet/Sextet

Quartet/Quintet/Sextet
Studio album by Lou Donaldson
Recorded	June 20 & November 19, 1952 & August 22, 1954
Genre	Jazz
Length	56:50
Label	Blue Note
Producer	Alfred Lion
Lou Donaldson chronology
Quartet/Quintet/Sextet (1952-4) Wailing with Lou (1957)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Quartet/Quintet/Sextet is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson featuring his earliest recordings as a leader on the Blue Note label performed by Donaldson's Quartet with Horace Silver, Gene Ramey and Art Taylor, his Quintet with Silver, Blue Mitchell, Art Blakey, and Percy Heath, and a Sextet with Heath, Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Matthew Gee, and Elmo Hope.^[2] The album was originally released as a 10" LP, then as a 12" long-playing record, and finally as a CD with additional tracks added.

The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 4½ stars and states "While Donaldson's tone isn't quite as full as it would be within just five years, he impresses with his bold, speedy technique and fine phrasing. He doesn't play anything out of the ordinary, but he plays it very, very well, and his playing is enhanced by the three stellar bands that support him on these sessions... Everyone plays in a straight bop and hard bop tradition, contributing fine performances to a strong debut effort by Donaldson".^[1]

Track listing

All compositions by Lou Donaldson except as indicated

1. "Lou's Blues"
2. "Cheek to Cheek" (Irving Berlin)
3. "Roccus" (Horace Silver)
4. "If I Love Again" (Ben Oakland)
5. "Down Home"
6. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson)
7. "Sweet Juice" (Silver)
8. "Caracas"
9. "Moe's Bluff"

• Recorded at WOR Studios, NYC, June 20, 1952 (tracks 1-3) and November 19, 1952 (tracks 4-7) and Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, August 22, 1954 (tracks 8 & 9).

Personnel

• Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
• Horace Silver - piano (tracks 1-7)
• Elmo Hope - piano (tracks 8 & 9)
• Blue Mitchell - trumpet (tracks 5-7)
• Kenny Dorham - trumpet (tracks 8 & 9)
• Matthew Gee - trombone (tracks 8 & 9)
• Gene Ramey - bass (tracks 1-3)
• Percy Heath - bass (tracks 4-9)
• Art Taylor - drums (tracks 1-3)
• Art Blakey - drums (tracks 4-9)

Production

• Alfred Lion - producer
• Reid Miles - design
• Rudy Van Gelder - engineer
• Francis Wolff - photography

References