1. Introduction by Cannonball
2. Gemini
3. Planet Earth
4. Dizzy's Business
5. Syn-Anthesia
6. Scotch and Water
7. Cannon's Theme
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley - Alto sax
Nat Adderley - Cornet
Yusef Lateef - Tenor sax, flute, oboe
Joe Zawinul - Piano
Sam Jones - Bass
Louis Hayes - Drums
This is a reissue in the
"Keepnews Collection" of albums originally
supervised by Orrin Keepnews. The session
was recorded at New York's Village Vanguard
in 1962 and Orrin's sleeve-note says that
it might be considered a companion piece to
the first album he recorded with Cannonball
in San Francisco in 1959. That was also a
live album and, in some ways, the Adderley
groups are best heard in live settings, as
the atmosphere suits the band's innate dynamism.
Orrin's sleeve-note also points out that Yusef
Lateef and Joe Zawinul were recording with
the band for the first time, and they certainly
fit in well.
Gemini is in six-eight
time and starts with a storming solo from
Cannonball, full of quirky quotes. His brother
Nat follows on cornet: restrained at first
but then upping the ante with a solo that
recklessly steps across bar-lines. Yusef Lateef
solos on tenor-sax, betraying some of his
oriental leanings, followed by Zawinul contributing
a judicious solo.
And so the fun continues,
usually following roughly the same sequence
of soloists and mostly at fast tempos. This
is one of the small drawbacks of the album
- that there is possibly too little variety.
Yet the exhilaration is such that one's foot
keeps tapping through the hustling Planet
Earth, the beboppish Dizzy's Business
(originally written by Ernie Wilkins for
Dizzy Gillespie's big band), and Yusef Lateef's
composition Syn-Anthesia (featuring
Yusef on flute). This last tune is a mysterious
piece which offers a contrast to the surrounding
up-tempo numbers.
The show ends with Joe Zawinul's
Scotch and Water, a blues which gives
solo opportunities to the unbeatable Cannonball
and the comfortably-swinging Zawinul, and
the sign-off tune Cannon's Theme -
another blues during which Cannonball introduces
the band to the audience, who can be heard
still wanting more. I could have done with
more, as the CD's playing-time of 45 minutes
is rather miserly in this day and age. On
the other hand, the excitement might have
been too much!
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Riverside 0888072305038
