Cannonball Adderley
is in excellent form on this live date recorded on August 5, 1962, at
the International Jazz Festival
in Comblain-La-Tour, Belgium. The alto saxophonist fronts an amazing band comprised of brother
Nat Adderley
on cornet,
Yusef Lateef
on tenor sax and flute,
Joe Zawinul
on piano,
Sam Jones
on bass, and drummer
Louis Hayes
. The five selections include
Lateef
's composition
"P. Bouk,"
with tremendous limber interplay between reeds and brass, followed by two favorites from the
Adderley
book of the era,
"Gemini"
and
"Work Song."
picks up the oboe on the
traditional
blues
"Trouble in Mind"
and the set is rounded out with
"Dizzy's Business,"
once again showcasing fiery
improvisation
between the horns.
Cannonball
's good-natured stage manner is also on display, with a few off-the-cuff humorous asides. As a weird side note, Beach Party movie heartthrob
Frankie Avalon
was also on the bill -- he opened the show!
Cannonball in Europe
was originally released on
Riverside
in 1962, and later reissued by
Landmark
, but this is the first time the session has appeared on CD. ~ Al Campbell