Jazz Cannonball Adderley Sextet

Although the nine songs on this new Cannonball Adderley reissue were originally done live at concerts in Japan and San Francisco in 1963, they nevertheless make a nice tribute to departed jazz giant Dizzy Gillespie. The assembled group was among the finest Adderley ever led, with Yusef Lateef providing a dynamic, unpredictable third solo voice on flute, tenor sax, and oboe, contrasting with Cannonball's pungent alto sax and Nat Adderley's pithy cornet solos. Bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes were a top-flight tandem, while Joe Zawinul was then playing bluesy, funky piano in his pre-synthesizer, Miles Davis/Weather Report phase. Everything is illustrative of a prime band enjoying some great nights.

In 1963 Cannonball Adderley signed with the Capitol label, retaining the rights to some master tapes recorded earlier while he was with Riverside. This CD (a straight reissue of an earlier LP) therefore contains music much closer to the altoist's freewheeling Riverside period than to his R&Bish Capitol dates. Adderley's greatest band - his sextet with cornetist Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef (on tenor, flute and oboe), pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes - is featured on such exciting numbers as "Jessica's Day," Jones' "Unit 7," and "The Jive Samba." A special treat of this live date is hearing the leader's introductory words to several of the songs.

Recorded live in Tokyo on July 14th and 15th, 1963, Nippon Soul is not the Asian-jazz fusion suggested by the title (check out Cal Tjader's Several Shades of Jade and Breeze From the East for that), but a solid live set that showcases one of Cannonball Adderley's finest groups, featuring himself, brother Nat Adderley on cornet, bassist Sam Jones, drummer Louis Hayes, and most notably pianist Joe Zawinul and reedsman Yusef Lateef. Both near the beginnings of their careers, Zawinul and Lateef nonetheless dominate this set; two of the original tracks are by Lateef, including the centerpiece "Brother John," for John Coltrane and featuring an astonishing extended Lateef solo on oboe, an instrument not normally associated with jazz, but which takes on an almost Middle Eastern fluidity and grace in its approximation of Coltrane's "sheets of sound" technique…

This excellent live date from the Village Vanguard was the recording debut of the Adderley sextet, with Cannonball waxing eloquently and swingingly on alto, brother Nat charging ahead on cornet, and the versatile Yusef Lateef (who had joined the band only three weeks earlier) adding a bit of an edge on tenor, flute, and unusually for a jazz wind player, oboe on the odd, dirge-like "Syn-Anthesia." Also, this was the first recorded appearance of pianist Joe Zawinul - a little over three years since his arrival in America - in Cannonball's band. This group would be Zawinul's springboard to prominence in the jazz world, and readily apparent is how his compulsively funky mastery of bop and the blues had fused tightly with the Sam Jones/Louis Hayes rhythm section. Included is one of the earliest recordings of a Zawinul composition, "Scotch and Water," a happy, swinging blues.

The "Poll-Winners" at the time of this recording were Adderley, guitarist Wes Montgomery and bassist Ray Brown; together with Victor Feldman doubling on piano and vibes and drummer Louis Hayes they cut this excellent quintet date. This was the only meeting on records by Adderley and Montgomery and, although not quite a classic encounter, the music (highlighted by "The Chant," "Never Will I Marry" and two takes of "Au Privave") swings hard and is quite enjoyable.

The Cannonball Adderley Sextet - In New York (1962) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #18of27)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 295 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 258 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remastering
© 1962, 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305038
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from his new liner notes): “Just a few weeks after Yusef [Lateef] was added, a booking at the Village Vanguard was used to bring about the recording that is reissued here. Considering how long the four original band members had been working together, it is quite amazing how quickly and how well the two newcomers fit in. The only real difference to be noted between this and previous Adderley band albums might be the absence of any newly written material by either of the Adderley brothers. But two of the half-dozen selections are by Lateef and one by Zawinul. The final number, one of Sam Jones’s rare writer credits, was for quite awhile the band’s standard way of closing each set in a club, but the decision here was to give it a rare full-length performance.”

A plethora of "lost" recording dates have popped up since the dawn of the compact disc, especially in the jazz world. Unfortunately, most of them haven't been worth the wait and, indeed, as underwhelming as some of them have been, it might - at least aesthetically speaking - have been better had they not been unearthed. Happily, this isn't one of these occasions. The two sessions here were recorded in 1961 and 1962 in Chicago and New York, and feature Cannonball Adderley's quintet that included pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Sam Jones, drummer Louis Hayes, and brother Nat on cornet. Cleanhead sings his ass off and plays some alto with Cannonball. These dates reveal an anomaly in jazz at the time: The recordings are the place on the map where jazz and R&B meet head on, bringing the full force of their respective traditions and neither giving an inch…

Cannonball Adderley - Lugano, 1963 (1995) {TCB Records TCB02032}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 487 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 156 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 1995 TCB Music SA | TCB 02032
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

This Swiss concert (broadcast by Swiss radio) features the 1963 Cannonball Adderley Sextet which was arguably the altoist's finest band. In addition to the leader, the performance features cornetist Nat Adderley, the versatile Yusef Lateef on tenor, flute and oboe, pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes. Highlights include "Jive Samba," "Dizzy's Business," a lengthy "Trouble in Mind" and "Work Song" but all seven selections are quite rewarding. Cannonball Adderley fans can consider every recording by this classic unit to be essential.

One of the great alto saxophonists, Cannonball Adderley had an exuberant and happy sound that communicated immediately to listeners. His intelligent presentation of his music (often explaining what he and his musicians were going to play) helped make him one of the most popular of all jazzmen.

This LP (whose contents have been reissued many times) features the Miles Davis Sextet of 1959 without the leader. Altoist Cannonball Adderley and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane really push each other on these six selections, with this version of "Limehouse Blues" really burning. Coltrane's very serious sound is a striking contrast to the jubilant Adderley alto; the latter is showcased on "Stars Fell on Alabama." With pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb playing up to their usual level, this gem is highly recommended.