Tag Archives: Cannonball Adderley

Listening Room – “Inside Straight”

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Cannonball Adderley Quintet – “Inside Straight”

Cannonball Adderley Quintet – “Inner Journey”

Cannonball Adderley Quintet – “Snakin’ The Grass”

From “Inside Straight” : 1973 : Fantasy F9435

This 1973 quintet session (actually a sextet with King Errison on percussion) from Cannonball Adderley features a stellar group of talented players who all fall easily into the groove of the funky soul jazz that was Adderley’s sound in this last phase of his career.  Hal Galper in particular contributes heavily to the album with three compositions (Inner Journey, Snakin’ The Grass, Second Son) not to mention his outstanding electric piano playing throughout.  The album was recorded live at Fantasy Studios, where Studio A was converted into a makeshift “nightclub”.  This was a somewhat new concept for jazz recording at the time, but the resulting album is great, as the players are clearly feeding off the energy of the small crowd in attendance.

Players:
Cannonball Adderley – Alto Sax
Nat Adderley – Cornet
Hal Galper – Electric Piano
Walter Booker – Bass
Roy McCurdy – Drums
King Errison – Percussion

Listening Room – “Portrait of Cannonball”

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This was Cannonball Adderley’s first record for Riverside and was the start of a very successful run of albums he would produce for the label.  “Portrait of Cannonball” is a prime example of Adderley at his hard bop best and he assembled a great group of like-minded players such as Bill Evans on piano and Blue Mitchell on trumpet.  The album only has a couple of of original tunes, but the song choices are excellent, including Blue Funk written by Sam Jones and a classic version of Gigi Gryce’s Minority.

Portrait of Cannonball
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Released 1958  :  Riverside Records  :  Catalog # RLP 12-269

Players:
Cannonball Adderley – Alto Sax
Blue Mitchell – Trumpet
Bill Evans – Piano
Sam Jones – Bass
Philly Joe Jones – Drums

Cannonball Adderley – Minority from “Portrait of Cannonball”

Cannonball Adderley – Blue Funk from “Portrait of Cannonball”

Listening Room – “The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco”

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In San Francisco

Cannonball Adderley – This Here

Cannonball Adderley – Hi Fly

From “In San Francisco” :1959 : Riverside RLP 12-311

An essential jazz recording, this album was recorded live at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco and released in 1959 on Riverside Records.  Cannonball Adderley was just ending his extremely successful tenure with the Miles Davis Quintet (resulting in the classics “Round About Midnight”, “Milestones” and “Kind of Blue”) when his own group caught fire with this release.  Joined by his brother on Nat on Cornet as well as Bobby Timmons, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes, the group scored a huge hit with the Timmons track This Here.  The rest of the album is just as solid and paved the way for a very fruitful period for Adderley and the various groups he would front over the next few years.

Players:
Cannonball Adderley – Alto Sax
Nat Adderley – Cornet
Bobby Timmons – Piano
Sam Jones – Bass
Louis Hayes – Drums

Listening Room – “Really Big!”

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Really Big!

Jimmy Heath – Big “P”

Jimmy Heath – Old Fashioned Fun

Tenor Saxophonist Jimmy Heath led a tentet on this 1960 Riverside Records release. This big band swings like a small group and is definitely a family affair, with Heath joined by his brothers Percy and Albert and altoist Cannonball and his brother Nat Adderley providing some great solos on the horns.  Both Big P and Old Fashioned Fun were composed by Heath, who was proving himself to be a force in both composing and arranging.

Players:
Jimmy Heath – Tenor Sax
Clark Terry – Trumpet
Nat Adderley – Cornet
Cannonball Adderley – Alto Sax
Pat Patrick – Baritone Sax
Dick Berg – French horn
Tom McIntosh – Trombone
Tommy Flanagan or Cedar Walton – Piano
Percy Heath – Bass
Albert “Tootie” Heath – Drums

Listening Room – “Dizzy’s Business”

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Cannonball Adderley – “Dizzy’s Business”

Cannonball Adderley – “Jive Samba”

From “Dizzy’s Business” : 1990 (Recorded 1963) : Milestone Records

These tracks by the Cannonball Adderley Sextet were recorded in Tokyo and San Francisco in 1963, but were not released until 1990.  This was a great group playing at top form, with Joe Zawinul on piano (before he revolutionized the synthesizer playing with Miles Davis just a few years later) and Yusef Lateef on flute, oboe and tenor sax.

Players:
Cannonball Adderley – Alto Sax
Yusef Lateef – Tenor Sax, Flute, Oboe
Nat Adderley – Cornet
Sam Jones – Bass
Louis Hayes – Drums