I never let Lush Life languish

One of my favorite albums is such an anomaly it sat unreleased for 13 years.
"LUSH LIFE" by LOU DONALDSON represents as near to a 180-degree by its participants as seems possible, and is all the more beautiful because of it.
By 1967, alto saxophonist Donaldson was at the vanguard of a movement he helped create -- a funky soul-jazz concoction that helped bring jazz renewed commercial success against the rising tide of rock and R&B.
For this album, he gathered an all-star cast who were heading in another direction. Trumpeter FREDDIE HUBBARD, tenor saxophonist WAYNE SHORTER, pianist MCCOY TYNER and bassist RON CARTER were composing and performing lengthy, complex pieces that stretched the boundaries of jazz.
That direction is what makes "Lush Life" both so remarkable, and remarkably beautiful.
Donaldson led his team of fantastic musicians on an exercise exploring sweet ballads, standards like "Stardust," "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "The Good Life."
Their renditions were based upon the arrangements of DUKE PEARSON, and sounded nothing like the normal jazz output of 1967.
Author Will Friedwald describes the effect the approach had on the ubiquitous tune, "Stardust," as "a well-orchestrated chamber-style accompaniment (that) sounds bigger than it actually is."
"Lush Life" was so far out of its time that it languished in the vaults for years. It's such a good record, I never let it languish for long -- I'm going to play it today, in fact.