''Lou's Blues'' is a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

jazz album by saxophonist

Lou Marini Louis William Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brothe ...

and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) recorded at Bates Brothers Recording in

Hueytown, Alabama Hueytown is a city near Bessemer in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham metropolitan area, and was part of the heavy industry development in this area in the 20th century. At the 2020 census, the popu ...

(near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

). This CD was the first recording as a leader by Marini. Lou Marini is best known as a member of several noted bands, including

Blood, Sweat and Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

, Steely Dan, the

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

Orchestra, the

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

Band, The

Maureen McGovern Maureen Therese McGovern (born July 27, 1949) is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs " The Morning After" from the 1972 film '' The Poseidon Adventure''; " We May Never Love Like This Again" from ' ...

Band, the

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, hav ...

Band, the

Saturday Night Live Band The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, an ...

, Aerosmith,

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...

and the Blues Brothers Band. Production duties for the album were shared by Lou Marini and Birmingham, Alabama based jazz musician

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO o ...

. All of the arrangements on this CD were written by Lou Marini, and all the compositions are his, except for "Mr. Clean," which was composed by Weldon Irvine. Some of the charts on this album have become enduring favorites of the Lab Bands at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...

. Liner notes for the CD were written by Grammy Award winning saxophonist, arranger, composer and producer,

Bob Belden James Robert Belden (October 31, 1956 – May 20, 2015) was an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer. As a composer he may be best known for his Grammy Award winning orchestral jazz recording, ''Black Dahlia'' (2001 ...

Track listing

# "Lou's Blues" # "Looking With New Eyes" # "Hip Pickles" # "Odalisk" # "Mr. Clean" # "Song For John" # "Dangerous Cargo" # "Rena / Country"

Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) Personnel

The MCJO personnel for ''Lou's Blues'' included: * MCJO Founding Director:

* Woodwinds: Gary Hallquist, Gary Wheat, Neil McLean, Grady Chandler, Daniel Western and Kim Bain * Trumpets: Mart Avant, Chris Gordon, John Taylor, Craig Konicek, Bo Berry and Darryl Jones * Trombones: Steve Pryor, Edson Worden, Dr. Bob Black, Charles Ard, and Jim Moeller

External links

Ray Reach - Official Website

Magic City Jazz Orchestra
at AllAboutJazz.com (Includes a reprint of the CD liner notes, written by

.) *
Magic City Jazz Orchestra
on Myspace
Article from April 7, 2004 edition of the Sentinel-Tribune, Bowling Green, Ohio
mentions Lou Marini and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra
Lou's Blues
reviews
"Lou's Blues" CD
at Amazon.com

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Lou Marini albums