1. This Here
2. Dizzy’s Business
3. Nardis
4. Things Are Getting Better
5. Jive Samba
6. Star Eyes
7. African Waltz
8. Know What I Mean?
9. Work Song
Cannonball Adderley – Alto sax
Nat Adderley – Cornet (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9)
Bobby Timmons – Piano (track 1)
Sam Jones – Bass (tracks 1-3, 4-7, 9)
Louis Hayes – Drums (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 9)
Yusef Lateef – Tenor sax, flute (tracks 2, 5,
9)
Joe Zawinul - Piano (tracks 2, 5, 9)
Blue Mitchell – Trumpet (track 3)
Bill Evans – Piano (tracks 3, 8)
Philly Joe Jones – Drums (track 3)
Milt Jackson – Vibes (track 4)
Wynton Kelly – Piano (tracks 4, 6, 7)
Percy Heath – Bass (tracks 4, 8)
Art Blakey – Drums (track 4)
Victor Feldman – Vibes (track 6)
George Matthews, Arnett Sparrow, Jimmy Cleveland,
Paul Faulise – Trombones (track 7)
Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman – Trumpets
(track 7)
George Dorsey – Alto sax, flute (track 7)
Arthur Clarke – Baritone sax (track 7)
Jerome Richardson, Oliver Nelson – Tenor sax,
flute (track 7)
Don Butterfield – Tuba (track 7)
Charlie Persip – Drums (track 7)
Michael Olatunji – African drums (track 7)
Ernie Wilkins – Arranger, conductor (track 7)
Connie Kay – Drums (track 8)
"Cannonball
Adderley was the most underrated great musician
ever", said Joe Zawinul, Adderley’s pianist
for most of the 1960s. I’m inclined to agree
with Zawinul, as Cannonball has been undervalued
by many critics who dismissed him as a populariser
or even rabble-rouser without recognising
his virtuosity on the saxophone. Certainly
Cannonball was a popular artist – and rightly
so, for his music was generally exciting (just
sample the stimulating performances of Dizzy’s
Business and Jive Samba here).
But Adderley also developed the bebop innovations
of Charlie Parker with an admixture from more
lyrical saxists like Benny Carter to create
a uniquely accessible style.
Adderley’s
greatness is illustrated on this selection
of tracks that Cannonball recorded for the
Riverside label in the late fifties and early
sixties. Personally I prefer some of his later
material, like Country Preacher and
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy for its sheer vigour,
but there is plenty here to enjoy. Several
tracks remind us of the searing brilliance
of the cornet playing by Cannonball’s brother,
Nat – not forgetting his skills as a composer
of such tunes as Jive Samba and Work
Song.
The
collection features Cannonball is a variety
of settings – from quartets and quintets to
a big band (on the rather portentous African
Waltz, where Cannonball is barely audible).
The start of Know What I Mean? (with
subtle piano from Bill Evans) shows that Adderley
could play tender as well as tough, while
the following Work Song displays his
blues-drenched style before an appreciative
Tokyo audience. Here and elsewhere, the rhythm
team of Sam Jones and Louis Hayes pushes the
music along infectiously.
Cannonball
Adderley was great – and here is the proof,
on some well-recorded sides.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Riverside
0888072301726
