The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - Classic Albums 1959-60 (2014)

Alto saxophonist and bandleader Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was one of the most important and influential figures of modern jazz in the two decades before his sudden death in 1975, effectively bridging the gap between bebop, jazz-funk and avant-garde free jazz. He began his recording career in 1955, but really came to the fore after his spell in the Miles Davis band, during which time they recorded the classic “Milestones” and “Kind Of Blue” albums. In the immediate aftermath of that period, he formed a new quintet with his brother Nat and recorded a series of albums over the next year or so, which are regarded as some of his most significant work, and the content of three of those original LP releases is brought together on this CD. With Nat Adderley on cornet, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums, and with Bobby Timmons, Barry Harris and Victor Feldman on piano across the three albums, he released “The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco”, a live workshop recording which effectively introduced “soul jazz” bridging bebop and funk, “Them Dirty Blues”, which introduced the classic compositions “Work Song” and “Dat Dere”, and “At The Lighthouse”, a recording of a live show which has been critically acclaimed ever since as a fine hard bop peprformance. It’s a collection which captures one of the genre’s important personalities leading one of his best groups during a key period of his career, and it makes for thoroughly entertaining listening.