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Alto saxophonist and now 2013 NEA Jazz Master Inductee "Papa" Lou Donaldson is getting ready to enjoy the next phase of his already illustrious six decades in the business. Lou just recently signed with Keystone Korner International headed by legendary jazz producer and manager Todd Barkan and is currently getting ready to record new material in many years.

The blues and soul-jazz icon continues to be a staple in the jazz idiom because he's one of the few architects of jazz that stayed rooted in the music versus staying in the hard-bop style that dominated the music during the 1950's.

Born November 1, 1926 in Baden, North Carolina, Lou is the second of four children to Louis Andrew Donaldson, Sr. and Lucy Wallace Donaldson. Lou's father was a minister and his mother was a school teacher. He began playing piano as a kid but his mother stirred him away because of her lack of patience and strict methods of teaching. So, around age nine his mother gave him a clarinet. Always the disciplined student, Lou finished college at age 17 earning a Bachelor's of Science degree from the North Carolina A & T and was then a member of the marching band playing the clarinet position. Lou was later drafted into the US Navy where he played in the Great Lakes Navy Band. It was also this time when Lou was serving his country where he went to Chicago and he heard one of his musical heros, alto saxophonist, Charlie Parker. Parker along with Sonny Stitt were Lou's main influences.

When Lou returned from the Navy, he eventually moved back to Greensboro, North Carolina where he sat in with many of the music bands that played there including Count Basie, Andy Kirk, and Erskine Hawkins. But it was saxophonist Illinois Jacquet that encouraged Lou to play and come to New York City. Drummer Joe Jones also took the young Donaldson in and put him up in his hotel in New York City.

Upon coming to New York, Lou attended the Darrow Institute of Music under the G.I. Bill, but would also play at the famed Minton's Playhouse and other music establishments during the early 1950's. It was at Minton's where he met Blue Note Reords founder Alfred Lion where his career took off. At Blue Note, not only did he back greats like Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson, he also discovered and introduced the music world to the likes of the Three Sounds, Grant Green, Donald Byrd, and Duke Pearson. His legendary sides include Jimmy Smith's "The Sermon" and his signature "Alligator Bogaloo" featuring George Benson and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

Lou continues to perform and will be coming to a club near you. For upcoming info and upcoming club dates, please visit him online at www.loudonaldson.com.