The title of
Say It Loud!
is taken from
James Brown
's anthem
"Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud,"
the
R&B
/
funk
classic that
Lou Donaldson
covers on this album. Instead of providing a thematic and musical touchstone for the rest of the record, the song is an attempt to prove that
Donaldson
is still on top of musical trends, but the lazy groove he and his band -- trumpeter
Blue Mitchell
, guitarist
Jimmy Ponder
, organist
Charles Earland
, drummer
Leo Morris
-- work up shows they're not quite comfortable with this contemporary
. They sound much more at ease with
standards
like
"Summertime"
and
"Caravan,"
which give them a chance to stretch out, even if they are arranged like commercially oriented
soul-jazz
. Nevertheless, their simple presence on the album puts the stiffness of
's groove-oriented
in sharper relief.
Midnight Creeper
was a successful
record because the group managed to hit the right tone and groove, but here his group sounds awkward and uneasy. There are a few good moments scattered throughout the album, particularly by
Mitchell
, but overall,
is one of the weakest records in
's catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine