Cannonball Adderley & His Orchestra - African Waltz (1961/2018)

This concert recording, released for the first time in the U.S. in 1994, features Cannonball Adderley's 1969 quintet, a unit that also included cornetist Nat Adderley, keyboardist Joe Zawinul, bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Roy McCurdy. Cannonball, whose music had gradually moved beyond bop as it became influenced by rock, funk and the avant-garde, is actually booed a bit on this set by the French audience who expected him to be playing the same songs as a decade earlier. Actually the altoist is in excellent form and the music (which includes "Black Orpheus" and "Work Song" along with newer material by Zawinul) is generally superior to his Capitol studio recordings of the era. Despite the mixed reaction (which makes Cannonball's usually enthusiastic talks to the audience a bit downbeat), this is an excellent example of late-period Adderley.