Soundboard recording from the Hi Fi Club, Leeds - UK, May 2004. This was the first in a run of three special UK dates and the only one that was recorded. We had met Lou for the first time earlier that day but he wasn't keen to rehearse as he was jet-lagged from his trip. He was also baffled by the set list that had been chosen for him by us and the promoters - the soul-jazz classics that we all knew and loved were, from Lou's point of view, just a blip in a career that was already into its seventh decade. Trumpet player Malcolm Strachan had to politely remind Lou of all the heads, and Eddie wasn't sure if Lou was leading the band or expecting him to do it, so there's a certain amount of eggshell-treading in the execution.  Lou was 78 years old in 2004. At the time of writing he is 87 and still gigging regularly.

featuring:
Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
Malcolm Strachan - trumpet
Eddie Roberts - guitar
Bob Birch - Hammond organ
Pete Shand - bass guitar
Simon Allen - drums

(Simon Allen, Leeds, November 2013)

Lou Donaldson & The New Mastersounds

Soundboard recording from the Hi Fi Club, Leeds, UK in May 2004. This was the first in a run of three special UK dates and the only one that was recorded. We had met Lou for the first time earlier that day but he wasn't keen to rehearse as he was jet-lagged from his trip. He was also baffled by the set list that had been chosen for him by us and the promoters - the soul-jazz classics that we all knew and loved were, from Lou's point of view, just a blip in a career that was already into its seventh decade. Trumpet player Malcolm Strachan had to politely remind Lou of all the heads, and Eddie wasn't sure if Lou was leading the band or expecting him to do it, so there's a certain amount of eggshell-treading in the execution.

featuring:
Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
Malcolm Strachan - trumpet
Eddie Roberts - guitar
Bob Birch - Hammond organ
Pete Shand - bass guitar
Simon Allen - drums

(Simon Allen, Leeds, November 2013)

01 Alligator Boogaloo

03 Hot Dog

04 Ode to Billy Joe

The New Mastersounds are an astonishingly persistent funk/soul-jazz quartet who were founded in Leeds, UK in 1999 by guitarist/producer Eddie Roberts and drummer Simon Allen. They recruited Pete Shand on bass and Bob Birch on organ & piano. Bob left the band in 2007 and was replaced by Joe Tatton.  By the close of 2013 (the time of writing) their discography boasted more than twenty 7" 45rpm singles, 8 studio albums, 2 live albums, 1 remix album and several compilation albums, with one more studio album and another live album already recorded and pegged for release in 2014. The band has toured all over the USA (having visited 38 of the 50 states at last count), Japan, and to a lesser extent in UK & Europe.  Influences include James Brown, Grant Green, Booker T, Lou Donaldson and The Meters, as well as the (mainly) UK-based DJs who exposed the four musicians to the sounds of lesser known funk acts at the vinyl-only club nights of the mid-90's.