Customer Reviews

Cannonball Plays Zawinul

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Before there was WEATHER REPORT, Joe Zawinul made a significant contribution to jazz via his partnership with Cannonbal Adderly. Joe was the piano player in Adderly's band in the early 60's...a seemingly strange collaboration between a Southern born African American sax player and an Eastern European, classically trained pianist. But from the opening track, it works and it works to such a degree that this cd moves like a runaway train. There is, of course, Zawinul's hit MERCY, MERCY, MERCY which is atypical in the context of the other selections (but a great soulful, funky classic) but it is clear that Adderly recognized Zawinul's writing talent and gave him his due by playing his compositions exclusively on this recording. Adderly and Zawinul were on the cutting edge of jazz at the time this recording was made and their music stands not only as a foreshadow of what was to come but as a classic in its own right. The album SOUNDS like a live club date but the listener has to wonder if CAPITOL records once again made a studio recording with drinks and "friends" in attendance. It all just adds to the frantic fun these musicians appear to be having at this juncture of their celebrated careers. dr. Muse

CANNONBALL PLAYS ZAWINUL is just what its title suggests: an excellent and - given that most of the albums represented herein have yet to appear on CD - overdue collection of compositions by Cannonball Adderley's visionary 1960s keyboardist, who would later go on to form Weather Report with Wayne Shorter. From hits like "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and the phenomenal "74 Miles Away" to proto-world music curios like "Ndo Lima," classicist workouts and even an extensive exploration of the Herbie Hancock tribute "Dr. Honorius Causa" from 1971 (by which time Zawinul had left Cannonball's band), it's all here. A few of these tracks are available on discs like MONEY IN THE POCKET, MERCY MERCY MERCY and CANNONBALL IN JAPAN; for the most part, however, this is currently the only way to get these wonderful recordings into your collection. As such, it is - at least for the moment - essential.