AOW April 11-18: Cannonball Adderley Quintet Plus

[jodigrind]

Thanks to Deus62 for asking me to participate in this fun tradition:

From my review, no Cannonball albums have been featured in this topic and I would love to hear other posters' views on this recording:

In my opinion, this is the tightest group playing of Cannonball's on record. The quintet had just returned from a tour of Europe and the group was ready. Also keep in mind that this was the last studio "non-concept" recording Cannonball made in the 1960's (not counting the Nancy Wilson quintet tracks recorded later in 1961). Most of his Capitol recordings were made live and the non-live recordings were not focused on his quintet or sextet's current repertoire (like the Fiddler on the Roof Album, the bossa nova album, the Cleanhead album, etc.)

In any event, some highlights of this album, imo:

1. Cannonball's soloing on this record is amazing. He never repeats ideas and his sound is just like melted gold.

2. Victor Feldman is way underrated on piano and vibes. His playing is perfect for the group here. Why he didn't focus on the piano for the remainder of his career is a mystery based on his soloing, comping and compositions for the quintet. An interesting discussion could be had to speculate on how Cannonball's musical direction might have been affected if Feldman's tenure with the group had been as lengthy as that of Joe Zawinul's.

3. The album is really well-paced. Good mixture of tempos and moods. "Lisa" is my favorite track here (heard in two versions on the CD).

Thanks for the opportunity to post my thoughts.

[neveronfriday]

Good choice! This is also a CD with excellent sound. Quite funky, some of it, especially when the vibes come in. Also, an interesting cello solo, if I recall correctly. Like that one.

Cheers!

[edited for incorrect link]

Edited April 8, 2004 by deus62

[king ubu]

Good choice indeed!

The "Number 7" track on the latest BFT made me want to listen to some Cannonball - the band with Lateef is probably my favorite, and their best recording might be the one still missing in the Blue Note Landmark/Capitol reissue series: Vol. 7 - Cannonball in Europe!

The band with Victor Feldman, though, when I heard it first on the reissue (in that same series) of the Lighthouse date, was quite a revelation, too!

ubu

[Joe G]

Finally! An album in my collection. B-3er gave this disc to me for my birthday a few years ago, but I didn't listen to it right away. Pulled it off the shelf after hearing a cut on the radio that was smoking. A keeper for sure.

[jazzbo]

I've been listening to a lot of Cannon lately (Capitol stuff, which I have most of but still lack a few dambit!) and this is a whole 'nother animal but one worth petting again!

[JohnS]

Thanks for picking up on this jodigrind. A good choice, I'll dig this one out for a play over the Easter weekend.

[mikeweil]

Thanks for picking up on this jodigrind. A good choice, I'll dig this one out for a play over the Easter weekend.

My thoughts exactly!

[JazzZealot]

I can tell this discussion area will help empty my pockets! I just ordered this. Thanks for the tip.

JZ

[mikeweil]

The only thing I don't quite like with this album is that the first tune is so fast - I prefer medium tempo starters. But the particular choice of tune is very interesting, as Cannonball had produced a "comeback" album on Riverside for Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, who wrote that tune, "Arriving Soon". Compare the version to the one on Cleanheads album:

But listening to the album now reveals I like it much better than on first listening, the groove is excellent and swinging, as has been stated, and all the musicians are in top form. The rhythm section with Wyton Kelly, Sam Jones, Louis Hayes, and Victor Feldman on vibes almost steals the show!

[Hardbopjazz]

How do you sign up to pick the album of the week?

[king ubu]

How do you sign up to pick the album of the week?

Drop jodigrind a PM - he's up to choose someone. If he chooses you, you choose someone to follow after, etc.

ubu

[Jim R]

Wow, it's been awhile since I pulled this one out. Right off the bat, I'm knocked out by Victor Feldman's piano solo on track 1. Feldman had been on my mind recently, when I had been working on Frank Rosolino's tune "Blue Daniel". The earliest recorded versions I have (Cannonball's QUINTET AT THE LIGHTHOUSE, and Shelly Manne AT THE BLACKHAWK V.1) both had Feldman on piano, and I was reminded again how good a pianist he was. Getting a taste of him on both piano and vibes on a session this good is just a treat. Wynton Kelly is always worth hearing- one of my all-time favorite pianists, and with Sam Jones and Louis Hayes behind him, that's about as good as it gets for me.

I too like the pacing on this session. I absolutely love "New Delhi". The only other version in my collection was recorded five months after this one- James Clay's DOUBLE DOSE OF SOUL album also on Riverside, and also with Nat, Feldman, Jones, and Hayes. Gotta play that one again when I'm done spinning the Cannonball disc. There's an example of a great jazz tune that doesn't seem to have been covered much.

"Lisa" is another great Feldman piece. Strange, but this melody is reminding me strongly of another recording I've heard (I think). I checked my database and found only one other song titled "Lisa", but that's a different tune (Curtis Amy on KATANGA). I'm pretty sure I've heard this melody elsewhere, and now I'm wondering if somebody "borrowed" it (recorded it under another name)... ? Does anybody have another version of this that's credited to Feldman/Zito?

[BruceH]

Damn, I don't have it. Will have to keep an eye out for it.

[jodigrind]

JimR--

"Lisa" is found also on Feldman's trio album for Riverside, "Merry Ole Soul", done with the Jones/Hayes rhythm section. Haven't seen the song anywhere else.

I agree that "New Delhi" is a great tune. It can also be heard in a live version from about a year later from the Jazz Workshop--this time with Yusef Lateef playing with the group. Comparing the two versions of the song is very interesting, especially with the "Middle East" tinge that Lateef brought to the group.

Other highlights on my latest listen: I love the little transition/turnaround used on "Arriving Soon" to signal the end of the solo. I also love Feldman's piano solo on that track. The stacking of block chords he does gets me every time.

Also, a great bass solo by Jones on "Star Eyes"--such a big sound.

I will check in with more comments later.

[JohnS]

I had a job finding this baby on my shelves. But it was there as half of a Milestone twofer so I'm without any additional tracks.

Cannon and Nat can always be relied upon to come up with some decent playing and this set is no exception. However, the sheer joy of playing that I like in their music seems to be missing in places. For that reason not my first choice of albums by the Adderleys. Three and one half stars.

[tooter]

"I checked my database and found only one other song titled "Lisa", but that's a different tune (Curtis Amy on KATANGA).  I'm pretty sure I've heard this melody elsewhere, and now I'm wondering if somebody "borrowed" it (recorded it under another name)... ?  Does anybody have another version of this that's credited to Feldman/Zito?

There's yet another tune called "Lisa" by Al Cohn on the albums Birdlanders and A Date in New York I think - Henri Renaud leading. I've always liked the Feldman tune and am a great fan of his playing. Not too long ago he died, sadly. It was he that inspired Tubby Hayes to take up vibes.

Listening to my LP version of the album now - two tracks missing! - this is an old favourite. Calm, considered, inventive jazz, energetic but no histrionics. Adderleys at their best. Good choice. Not only Victor underrated, but also Nat I think.

Jim - Adding this - try Marc Cary, album Cary On, tune Melody in C. Sounds somwwhat similar.

Edited April 15, 2004 by tooter

[Jim R]

Tooter, thanks for your PM regarding "melody for C". I haven't heard that Cary recording, but as soon as you mentioned that tune, I knew immediately that the one I was thinking of was Sonny Clark's "melody for C" from LEAPIN' AND LOPIN' (Blue Note). I just compared that with "Lisa", and although they're not quite identical, there almost too close for comfort! Not only that, but Sonny Clark's tune was recorded in November of 1961, six months after this Cannonball session. Kind of dubious, if you ask me. Like I say, the tunes are not identical, but check out the similarity in the heads. I'd be interested to hear others opinions on this...

Anyway, mystery solved! Thanks Tooter!

[tooter]

Jim - you're more than welcome. I noticed that Marc Cary calls it "Melody in C" rather than "for" - that's why I didn't link to Sonny. I wonder if the "C" was Cannonball. I was going to look up recording dates but you beat me to it.

There are very many instances of tunes claimed by people who didn't write them sure. Bill Evans and Miles, of course. But sometimes I hear a tune and know I've heard it before, just like you did with this one, then to find it under another title and composer.

[Jim R]

Yeah, I've noticed that it's been referred to as "melody in c" in a few other places too (a blurb on the True Blue website, as well as Cuscuna's notes for the original CD release of LEAPIN' AND LOPIN'!).

I've tried some searches for more information about Clark's version, and haven't found much at all. I found no info about who "C" was... I kind of doubt that it was Cannonball, because I don't know that there was much of a connection there (they never recorded together, I don't think).

There are of course many cases of disputed authorship of tunes, but I don't often come across something like this (although I know it does happen). Something about this just seems odd/interesting to me, with both of these tunes coming out in 1961.

I may start a separate thread about this, but if anybody else owns both QUINTET PLUS and LEAPIN AND LOPIN, I'd really like to know what you think...

Edited April 15, 2004 by Jim R

[mikeweil]

Maybe Sonny remembered the tune from a Cannonball record but couldn't recall the title - it is also on Victor Feldman's CD "Merry Olde Soul" (Riverside, now on OJC CD), recorded in January, 1961.

Sonny was heavily addicted and could use some royalties ... look at his face on the cover of Leapin' and Lopin'. His tune sounds like a simplified version recalled from memory - both versions with composer Feldman have more embellishments in the melody.

Edited April 21, 2004 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

Consider how many blurbed tune titles came about by misunderstanding:

Monk, when asked for a tune title in a studio, mumbled "..... worry later", which the egineer wrote down. It was, of course, San Francisco Holiday.

Imagine a strung out Sonny Clark mumbling to Rudy Van Gelder "a melody written for Cannonball by ... what was his name?" - and you have "Melody for C." notated as a working title. Later, noone cares to research it, and there you have a new Sonny Clark tune. I bet, until this thread, nobody noticed.

[Jim R]

Imagine a strung out Sonny Clark mumbling to Rudy Van Gelder "a melody written for Cannonball by ... what was his name?" - and you have "Melody for C." notated as a working title. Later, noone cares to research it, and there you have a new Sonny Clark tune. I bet, until this thread, nobody noticed.

Interesting thoughts, Mike. Thanks. I suppose we may never know whether "C" was Cannonball, but your idea seems plausible.

I do wonder if anybody ever noticed these two tunes being so alike. When I spun the Cannonball disc (after years of having it on the shelf) and heard "Lisa", I knew immediately that I'd heard that line before. LEAPIN AND LOPIN is a favorite BN of mine, so "melody for C" is something I've played many times in recent years...

[BruceH]

Finally found a copy of this, and I've been enjoying it mightily. I can't add much to what's already been said in this thread except to agree with it. The sound is very good, Victor Feldman (the "Plus" of the title) is great on piano and vibes, and it's just a fantastic record. Cannonball continues to amaze me. I used to think of him as someone from whom one or two or three representative albums would suffice. But over the last year or two I've bought over 15 albums of his and they all rank from solid to great. You'd think that someone who recorded so much would, understandably, have a lot of mediocre commercial efforts in there, but the ratio of wheat to chaff seems astonishingly high. Thanks, jodigrind, for choosing this as AOTW!

[Joe G]

I'm listening to this as I type. Music that just feels really good. One of the swingingest rhythm sections in the history of small group jazz. It was Arriving Soon that Jim and I heard on the radio while coming home from a gig one night last winter. We were both saying things like, "Fuck yeah!" "Swinging their nuts off!" All the usual obscenities. When Bob Parlocha said what it was, I went home and found, to my suprise that it was in my collection. Played it for about a week straight after that. Lisa is another favorite track of mine.

[mikeweil]

One of the swingingest rhythm sections in the history of small group jazz. It was Arriving Soon that Jim and I heard on the radio while coming home from a gig one night last winter. We were both saying things like, "Fuck yeah!" "Swinging their nuts off!" All the usual obscenities.

As I said, that Sam Jones /Louis Hayes team was swingin' like crazy! In all tempos!