Bonnie – Tommy Turrentine
A beautiful Tommy Turrentine ballad with a gorgeous contour to the melody.
- Recording: Lou Donaldson - Hot Dog
- Recorded on: April 25, 1969
- Label: Blue Note (BST 84318)
- Concert Key: E-flat
- Style: Ballad
- Trumpet - Eddie Williams
- Alto Sax - Lou Donaldson
- Organ - Charles Earland
- Guitar - Melvin Sparks
- Drums - Leo Morris
Bonnie is dedicated to the Turrentine brothers' sister. Tommy had played trumpet on two of Lou Donaldson's previous recordings ("Natural Soul" [1962] Blue Note, and "Signifyin'" [1963] Argo). There was a gap in Tommy's recording career between 1967 and 1978, but he still continued to write music, as evidenced by this recording.
Tommy Turrentine
April 22, 1928 – May 13, 1997
Trumpeter Tommy Turrentine, brother of saxophonist Stanley, started his performing career with the band of Earl Bostic. He often played and recorded with Max Roach during the 1950s and 60s. During this time, Tommy collaborated with Julian Priester to write the hit song As Long As You're Living, to which Oscar Brown soon wrote a lyric (titled Long As You're Living). The vocal version was first recorded by Abbey Lincoln in 1959 and has gone on to be recorded by several other major jazz vocalists like Karrin Allyson, Claudia Acuña, and more recently, Cyrilee Aimèe. This composition is available in Second Floor Music's Sing JAZZ! Read more...