Mike LeDonne, Eric Alexander & Peter Bernstein - Wonderful (2024) [Hi-Res]

To me, putting a gospel choir and a jazz organist together seemed natural – but, unbelievably, it had never been done before. There have been similar recordings with voices but, as far as I know, not in a gospel choir style.

I have loved gospel music for decades. You can’t play the Hammond organ and not hear that sound in your head, no matter what style you play. Most of the music I love came from the grooves and feeling of gospel and the blues, and when I’ve listened to gospel choirs swinging hard on a refrain or a vamp, I’ve always wanted to get a piece of it. This recording was my chance to finally do that and not only add to the groove of the music, but also to expand the sound of the band with the most beautiful instrument of all – the human voice.

Love is the organic thread that ties the repertoire together. You could say this is a love letter to my wife Margaret and my daughter Mary (pictured on the cover) to whom the title track “Wonderful” is dedicated. It is also meant to shine a particularly bright light on my daughter Mary, who is multiply disabled and truly “Wonderful”.

I chose the titles for their significance to my life’s journey after my daughter Mary made her entrance 19 years ago – a journey that has proven to me, without a doubt, that love is the most powerful force in the universe. I can’t even begin to list all the incredible things I’ve learned from her, but it was my love for her that led me to start the Disability Pride Parade in New York City. The idea was to bring large numbers of the disability community out for a joyous day of celebrating who and what they really are: just another diverse and beautiful aspect of humanity. I hoped that once non-disabled people saw this big party coming down the street, they would want to join it, and that is exactly what happened. Once the hang was on, barriers and divisions fell away, and the word “disability” began to be redefined. When I started out, I had no idea how to create a parade or a non-profit organization, but through Mary I found strengths in myself that I didn’t know I had. When people thank me for my work creating the parade, I always tell them it wasn’t me – it was Mary.

As I’ve never arranged anything for a choir before, I called my friend Carolyn Leonhart, who is a beautiful singer herself, and asked her to help me put this together. I told her I wanted to keep it non-denominational, and asked her to focus on the parts of the songs with words that could be seen in different lights.

For instance, “Let Us Go” is a gospel song I was introduced to by my old friend and drummer extraordinaire, Alvin Queen, when we recorded it on his 2006 album I Ain’t Lookin’ At You. Here, the words take on a different meaning from the original because, even though Mary is non-verbal, I could just imagine her shouting “Come on, go with me!” to the 11,000 people from the disability community walking/rolling down Broadway in the parade behind us. The joyful spirit of that day is summoned by the choir and by Vincent Herring's alto sax and Danny Sadownick’s percussion, along with my musical family Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein and Joe Farnsworth, who have been playing with me in The Groover Quartet for over two decades.

John Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament”, which is one of his most beautiful spiritual melodies, features the Quartet. It was an amazing experience playing that song at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, which is where John Coltrane recorded it. This song is dedicated to the late Dr. Lonnie Smith, the great B3 master and wizard of the Hammond organ.

“Twinkies Organ Prelude/Wonderful” opens with a melody from the great gospel organist and singer, Twinkie Clark, and leads into “Wonderful”, a composition of mine that documents my first venture putting words to music. They’re very simple words that express what my family means to me. These words also make it clear to all the people who say “I’m sorry” when I tell them my daughter is disabled that there is no need to be sorry because Mary really is “Wonderful”.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Ain’t Nothin’ Like The Real Thing”, a couple of songs that I’ve always loved, fit perfectly into the story I’m telling on this recording. On “Bridge”, the organ does a little call and response with the choir for the melody, and then settles into a greasy shuffle groove. We all know what the “Real Thing” is, but this time, it’s about love and swing.

“Put It Back” is another gospel song that takes me back to the music I grew up on and that I played with my first band. When we rehearsed in the basement of my father’s music store, we would leave the windows open and the kids from the neighborhood would come over and dance outside. “Put It Back” highlights the great percussion section with Danny Sadownick and Joe Farnsworth, who both hit a serious pocket right from the start.

“Make Someone Happy” is a Julie Styne song that features the Quartet. I’ve always loved its beautiful melody and the message of the lyrics. Eric Alexander sounds absolutely amazing here, as does Peter Bernstein.

We close the date with another original of mine, but this time it’s a burner titled “Genesis”. Joe Farnsworth is featured on drums – among his other musical gifts, I consider Joe to be a fast-tempo expert.

Thank you to the choir, who sang like angels, and who put their hearts and souls into every note of the music with an enthusiasm that never wavered. And my deepest gratitude goes to Carolyn Leonhart, without whom I never could have done this.

Mike LeDonne - Hammond B3 organ
Eric Alexander - tenor saxophone
Peter Bernstein - guitar
Joe Farnsworth - drums
Daniel Sadownick - percussion (Let Us Go & Put It Back)
Vincent Herring - alto saxophone (Let Us Go)

Choir:

Aisha de Haas
Audrey Martells
Carolyn Leonhart
Everett Bradley
Keith Anthony Fluitt
Jamie Leonhart
Jamile
JD Walter
John James
La Tanya Hall
Tanesha Gary