By: Bill Milkowski
Playlist Description
This Cannonball Adderley playlist features the great alto saxophonist leading his quintet in two concerts separated by 15 years. On his 1960 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, coming a year after his appearance on Miles Davis’ 1959 masterpiece, Kind of Blue, he is joined by his younger cornet-playing brother Nat, Detroit bop pianist Barry Harris, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Haynes on Jones’"Del Sasser," Nat’s soulful “Work Song” and Tad Dameron’s “Stay On It.” The 1975 set has Cannonball channeling a different muse on the seminal fusion piece “Phases” while also paying tribute to Rev. Jesse Jackson on “Country Preacher” and covering Joe Zawinul’s anthemic “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” They hit an uptempo swing groove on Nat’s “Five of a Kind,” which has Cannonball in Bird-like mode, then dip into a slow blues on “Oh Babe!” And they conclude their set with the hard bop number, “The Scene.” Sadly, Cannonball passed away one month after this July 6, 1975 concert.
