Search - Cannonball Adderley :: Cannonball Adderley - Greatest Hits [Milestone]

Cannonball combines style & surprise in every phrase.

robb375@aol.com (Rob Mince) | Sunnyvale, California | 08/07/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cannonball Adderly was the big man with the surprise inside. I first heard this recording when I was 12. The song "This Here" comes to mind. The song was recorded live and as soon as you put the needle down (push the start button), we hear the sound of the room and Cannonball's thick voice announcing the song. He let's us know the song is REALLY called 'Dis Here. Bobby Timmons (piano) starts this jazz waltz with a simple but fatal rhythmic mode. Cannonball and Nat(his brother, on trumpet) proclaim the melody. The song starts out as blues but the payoff chords are far more chromatic than the usual blues progression (V,IV,I). The melody, a joyous, flying thing, sets up my all-time favorite Cannonball solo. When the tune comes around, Cannonball lets go. This is jazz. It is sweet, sassy, and ever-flowing but at the same time NEVER betrays the spirit of the original melody. This is Cannonball's genious. He flies, he soars, but he always honors the tun! e. Better than that, he takes the tune to new places without letting us forget the foundation. Next, Nat takes his turn. Different style altogether! Nat hangs high on his horn boldly, audaciously, never dropping the ball. All the while, Bobby Timmons has been the tracks under this coolest of trains and now it's his turn. Seeming to gain another hand or two just for this occasion, Bobby brings a bit of Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson to the keyboard in the form of fat, fun chords, while never losing his command of the jazz waltz pulse. My biggest problem as a kid of 12 was that I wore out the record before I was ready to stop listening to the album. If you're tired of jazz that's jammed up with notes that come from nowhere and go even less-where. Get yourself back to the drinking hole, the fountain, the man, Cannonball Adderly. The greatest alto man's Greatest Hits."

Whew!

robb375@aol.com (Rob Mince) | 02/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great, great stuff. To really appreciate jazz, you have to hear it live. This album was recorded live and man, it's great. I lament not being there in person! If you're a beginner in listening to jazz or a long-timer that hasn't purchased this disc, pick it up. I can't stop listening to it. Yea, it's that great."