Lou’s fifty plus year career represents a virtual Who’s Who in Music, including composing and/or performing studio work, Broadway Shows, and extensive touring with The Crusaders, Bill Watrous, Red Rodney, Airto, Charlie Byrd, Andy Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, Woody Herman, Louis Bellson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and the Frank Mantooth Jazz Orchestra, among many others. A select list of recordings, including groups he has co-founded include: highTIME Morning Walk; Three As One Decisions; Beaux J Poo Boo All Things Are New and four big band albums under his own name. In addition, he has performed on Steve Houghton’s Gershwin: The Manne We Love; Bill Watrous’ A Time For Love & Bone-i-fied; Shelly Berg’s The Joy; Frank Mantooth’s A Miracle; and Sunny Wilkinson’s High Wire.

A Yamaha Bass Artist Representative, performing on the Yamaha Silent Bass exclusively, clinics/concerts have been performed in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Mexico, South Africa, and three hundred+ institutions across the U.S. Educational textbooks include: Stylistic Etudes in the Jazz Idiom, (Hal Leonard); Jazz Solo’s for Bass Vol II (Kendor Music); and Rhythm Section Workshop for Jazz Band Directors (Alfred), which includes an Educator’s Manual, a dvd, 5 student workbooks, and a play-along cd co-authored with Shelly Berg, Fred Hamilton, and Steve Houghton. 

Lou has directed All State Ensembles in Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Louisiana. Dr. Lou has directed the Music For All National Honors Jazz Band of America in 2010 and 2013, in addition to have acting as jazz division head for eleven years at MFA’s Summer Symposium.