The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - In San Francisco

The quintet on this LP was not the first operated by Cannonball Adderley. The gregarious alto saxophonist and his cornetist brother Nat had a band earlier in the 1950s. They formed it shortly after they burst onto the New York scene from Florida, but hard economic breaks forced them to disband and seek work elsewhere. Cannonball went with Miles Davis, Nat with Woody Herman. As the decade wound down, Cannonball’s success with Davis and increased popularity with the public led him to think he was ready to retrieve Nat and again try leadership. He was right. The new Adderley quintet quickly became beloved of listeners in clubs across the country. Nowhere was it more enthusiastically received than at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. In the fall of 1959, Adderley called his producer, Orrin Keepnews, and said now was the time and the Workshop was the place to record the quintet live. Keepnews sprang into action. The result was this album, one of the most spectacularly successful — and enjoyable — live recordings in the jazz canon.

"…These master tapes, now owned by Fantasy (now part of the Concord Record Group) are in superb condition, mostly because jazz titles never sold in large numbers and Scotch 111 tape was almost indestructible and held the signal extremely well. Anyone thinking original Riversides were some kind of sonic holy grail, is pulling your stylus: these 45rpm reissues beat originals in most of the ways that count, in my opinion: they are more dynamic, by far, are pressed on better vinyl and offer greater transparency. No wonder certain titles from the first series are already collector's items…I regret not having bought every Riverside title available to me at $1.98 back in 1964, just as thousands of jazz fans will regret missing out on these limited edition double 45rpm LPs from Analog Productions, so if you're even thinking about buying this one, get it while you can!" Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 – Michael Fremer, musicangle.com

“…I’m a big fan of this series, and we’re now into the third set of 25 Jazz titles from the Fantasy catalogue (now owned by Concord) and re-issued by Chad Kassem’s Analogue Productions as 180g 45rpm releases. Issuing 45s with music on both sides makes so much more sense than single-sided releases. (Especially as they don’t warp the way single-sided 45s tend to.) I love the work Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray perform with these tapes. Masters the pair!…I can tell you that you won’t get the sound quality and the quiet surfaces this recording offers for $50. The musicians here are playing spontaneously at the Jazz Workshop and you’ve got that ‘club atmosphere’ going for you as well as the master players in the Quintet. Strongly recommended for those who have even the slightest interest in these outstanding musicians.” Recording = 8/10 Music = 8/10 – Richard Foster, Hi-Fi+, Issue 41, page 138

Originally released in 1959.

Cannonball Adderley, saxophone (alto)
Nat Adderley, cornet
Louis Hayes, drums
Sam Jones, bass
Bobby Timmons, piano