Search - Cannonball Adderley :: Portrait of Cannonball

Blue Funk

Jason Gubbels | San Diego, CA | 07/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pianist Bill Evans' venture into Miles Davis' 1958 group led indirectly to the masterpiece 'Kind of Blue,' but it also sparked a pair of delightful albums between Evans and Miles' alto player, Cannonball Adderly, who appreciated a good melody when he heard one. This is the first of a handful of dates scheduled around Evans' busy schedule, and with Blue Mitchell on trumpet it's a great hard bop session, full of the pretty passages one might expect from a Bill Evans date, yet not averse to swinging hard, as on the three takes of 'Minority', which opens the album. Admittedly, the song's impressiveness is lessened a bit by Riverside's decision to arrange all three takes one after the other, but such is often the case with jazz reissues on cd. Not an essential album, although fans of Bill Evans will want to check it out, and it's of the consistent high quality of Cannonball's recordings of the time."

Another Riverside Cannonball classic..

douglasnegley | Pittsburgh, Pa. United States | 08/31/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, I love alternate takes - and "Minority" alone provides enough material for a 4-star CD. But, again, it is the relaxed feel of the session - Cannonball blows his brains out on "Minority" and "A Little Taste" - provided by Blue Mitchell, Bill Evans, and the 'Jones's', both Philly Joe and Sam. I am partial to the later '50s stuff (this was '58, as was "Things are getting Better") as opposed to what reviewer Sam Chell referred to as 'packaged soul and funk', which plays well, and plays to a much larger audience, but just isn't the Cannonball I reach for when I MUST hear Cannonball. One other thing...I read in another review that Julian was not known for his technical ability or his creativity, but only for soulful playing. If you listen to the takes of "Minority" here - especially the way he blows in to his first verse - you will throw that comment out the window. I have heard that said about Cannonball from a lot of people...even sax players. That's a bad rap, if only because it takes both technique and creativity IN ORDER TO GET TO the point where you can blow soulfully. Coleman Hawkins blew with soul, and nobody would dare question his creativity or technical ability. Then again..."

A solid session from riverside..

Rolltide | Columbia, Tn | 01/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Very typical of the hard bop that riverside produced at this time and represents jazz at it's finest. Maybe not the best cannonball has to offer, but that doesn't mean this isn't great stuff. This is cannonball's riverside debut with 14 more releases to follow. This was also blue mitchell's first appearence for riverside and he would make 7 issues as leader with his debut as leader(big 6) recorded the two days after this issue. Interesting and big 6 sounds very much like this.



I'm one who does not like alternative takes after the original. I prefer the album be released as it originally was with the ATs at the end. That said both alternate versions of minority are exellent with take 3 maybe being the best of all. "Straight life" is a gorgeous song", "A little taste" really swings with wonderful soloing from cannonball and blue; bill evans solo is too terse i wish it lasted longer. In fact i wish evans had played a bigger role over all in this album even though adderly and mitchell are two of my absolute favorites. "People will say we're in love" is another gorgeous piece that hints to things to come in the "know what i mean" album adderly did with bill evans.



Adderly's play as always is so soulful and smooth and he seems so right at home with this type of music. This album was essential to me as a hard bop fan. The 1963 release "dem dirty blues" might be an even better example great classic hard bop but this is worth owning as well.."