Five-Star Collection... Cannonball Adderley

Cannonball Adderley Quintet

In Chicago

The need to feel ten feet tall. This is a malady which plagues men in general and great musicians in particular. No reputable jazzmam wants to set tiny feet inside the footprints left by others. Rather he seeks to stand straight and stamp his own mark. For the last five years, one alto man has been the object of much examination and cross-examination. He has been discarded as a rank imitator of the great "Yardbird" and he has been hailed as the greatest living exponent of the alto. He now strides across the country a recognized and respected figure in jazz. He is popularly known as "Cannonball".

In spite of his own personal recognition as a key figure in the development of jazz, the one person in the world who cannot be convinced that Julian Adderley is a powerful force in the movement and a person to be reckoned with musically is Cannonball himself. Confident that he is a cut or so beyond the average musician, Cannonball nevertheless self-consciously shrugs off any compliment or suggestion that he is in any sense a giant of jazz. An article once quoted Adderley as challenging Sonny Stitt for the "Bird" mantle. Cannonball spent many days trying to have this statement retracted or at least amended. This incident is one in a long line of similar experiences which add up to his present position on interviews and jazz writers.

"They seldom print the truth as you say it", Cannonball charges, "They just take part of what you say out of context and print it for sensationalism or they take a remark you make in joking and build it into something that will sell more copies". (...)

In 1958, Julian Adderley joined the Miles Davis quintet, and the relationship has been a profitable one for both men. Cannonball had the responsibility of being spokesman as well as business manager of the group. Miles Davis reflected great reliance on his friend and left all matters not pertaining directly to the music of the group in his hands.

An articulate spokesman, Cannonball belies the myth that jazz musicians are by and large a strange, way-out group of uneducated hipsters. At the Newport festival, he sat in on panel discussions and skillfully chided critics and panelists for many of the academic approaches they made to jazz. He was equally as fluent in discussing world affairs, current events, or simply stating a musician's point of view.

One is not to assume that this man is a plaster saint, however. One will find he is all flesh and blood with a little mud all the way up to the neck. Cannonball has a vocabulary which would send the most seaworthy sailor scurrying Normally an articulate well-spoken man, he possesses a wealth of earthy, explosive terms which he unleashes without batting an eyelash at the most unexpected moments. The relaxed, congenial musician can become an irritable, grumpy, thorn-paw tiger when the pressures of his work begin to mount.

The day before a record date usually finds him alone, brooding over sheets of music paper on which he may have the beginnings of three different charts or melodic lines for the session.

This date was no exception. Much of the writing was finished in the recording studio. Adderley had a bowl of soup and nothing more to eat on the day of the recording session. He walked into the studio jittery and fidgety after not having slept for some time. A master of his instrument, he seems reluctant to commit his mastery to posterity. Perhaps this is evidence of the uncertainty and lack of satisfaction he feels in his accomplishments. This hesitancy in no way negates his contribution to jazz-even Cannonball is aware of his prowess with the alto; rather it is the inner quest for greater heights that makes him hesitate before accepting laurels for his present performance.

*Jack Tracy (from the liner notes)*

This album was made early last year, when all the men involved were compatriots in the Miles Davis Sextet. It is important for two reasons: it points up the similarities as well as the contrasts between Coltrane and Adderley at this time, especially the influence Coltrane had on Adderley's playing; when this release is compared with the two saxophonists' present work it shows in bold relief the difterent paths that each man followed upon leaving the Davis group.

Let's take the last point first. Adderley has been successful with his quintet and has done little since the time of this recording that is strikingly new or different. If anything, the altoist has pulled himself back, as it were, closer to the blue roots of jazz. Coltrane, on the other hand, far from being a commercial success, has restlessly continued his search for unproved means of expression, and his playing has changed quite a bit since this recording.

This basic difference of viewpoint is reflected in the originals each contributed to the session. Adderley's Wabash is a happysounding two-beater that the two men in ensemble push by means of heavy accents. Coltrane's two originals, Grand Central and The Sleeper, are more complex, rhythmically and harmonically. Neither is a straight unison ensemble, as is Wabash; the parts move away from and toward each other, sometimes meeting in unison and then falling away again. The rhythm section does not play a straight two or four but varies its background with simple but effective rhythmic punctuations.

The point is that each man has extended these basic differences in his present work and each symbolizes the two main directions of jazz: Adderley, warmth and emotionalism; Coltrane, intellectualism and experimentalism, Which is the better tack is a moot point; both approaches are valid; both are valuable.

Although there were these differences at this time, there were also strong similartties between the two men.

The best comparison is on Limehouse. Both play with complete control of their instruments. Their playing is quite scaler, usually in long runs of eighth notes. Each likes to hang some phrases on a high note, which sounds like "wheet!" A harsh beauty colors each man’s tone, Neither uses much vibrato, Both play with much fire and intelligence. It’s as if each man took from the other qualities he lacked. It was a mutually profitable association.

Even on the ballads, Alabama featuring Adderley and Dreams, Coltrane, there are similarities of phrasing and conception.

But a record with an excellent rating must be more than a handy device for ccmparison and contrast; it must have lasting musical value, be stimulating and enjoyable. This one has all these qualities.

And not all the value, stimulation, and enjoyment is the exclusive property of the horn men. The album would not have been excellent without the sterling support of Kelley, Cobb, and Chambers. Kelley is brilliant in his solos. And never make the mistake of sticking him in funkonly pigeonhole. Listen to the way he builds his first chorus of Sleeper on a strange impressionistic figure that sounds like some sort of growl. He is one of the few pianists—Junior Mance is another— who is able to inject earthiness into his playing without losing his musical integrity.

A thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable album.

*Don DeMicheal (Down Beat, November 10, 1960 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Limehouse Blues

(Furber, Braham)

2 - Stars Fell On Alabama

(Frank Perkins, Mitchell Parish)

3 - Wabash

(Julian Adderley)

Side 2

4 - Grand Central

(John Coltrane)

5 - You're A Weaver Of Dreams

(Victor Young, Jack Elliott) 

6 - The Sleeper

(John Coltrane)

Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), John Coltrane (tenor sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums).

Recorded at Universal Recording, Studio B, Chicago, Illinois, February 3, 1959