Lou Donaldson, Saxophone, 1926, Badin, NC
Lou began studying the clarinet while in his mid teens, and several years later he joined the navy where he received additional schooling. It was here that he took up the alto saxophone and performed in several navy bands with Willy Smith, Clark Terry, and Ernie Wilkins. After leaving the navy he made his first recordings on Blue Note with Milt Jackson and Thelonious Monk, while leading several small groups of his own with sidemen such as Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, and Philly Joe Jones. In 1954 he and Brown joined Blakey's Jazz Messengers. During the mid '60s Lou spent a considerable amount of time performing and touring in Europe. During this period he began to record for Argo Records, a company that specialized in Funk, and some of his creative spark seemed to be sacrificed to the need for commercial success. After returning to Blue Note Records in the late '60s he once again concentrated on Bop. Donaldson has a dazzling technique and at his best is a strong, inventive, expressive player.
Gabe Baltazar, Saxophone, 1929, Hilo, HI
Gabe came to California from Hawaii in 1960 and began working for a short time with Howard Rumsey at the Lighthouse. From 1960 until 1965 he performed and toured with Stan Kenton as lead alto saxophonist and soloist. He recorded six popular albums with Kenton, including "Kenton's West Side Story". Shortly after leaving Kenton he worked with Onzy Matthews, Ralph Pena, and Terry Gibbs. He later performed and recorded with Gil Fuller and Oliver Nelson. After returning to Hawaii he began leading the Royal Hawaiian Band in 1979. Today, Gabe is probably the most prominent jazz musician living and working in Hawaii.
Lee Ritenour, Guitar, 1952, Hollywood, CA
While a music major at the University of Southern California, Lee also studied privately with Joe Pass and Howard Roberts. Before beginning a permanent gig as a studio musician in 1973, he managed to make a tour of Japan with Sergio Mendes's band, Brasil 77. 1977 found Lee in Japan, recording with Sadao Watanabe, and leading his own jazz-funk band. Around a year later he took his band, Friendship, on an extensive tour and continued working with this group into the 1980s. Lee was influenced by Wes Montgomery, but he feels that bop sort of limited him rhythmically and harmonically. He actually prefers dance rhythms and electronic sounds. In 1982 Lee released an album entitled "Ritt" that made a good showing on jazz and popular charts.
