Greatest Hits

Product Description:

Personnel: Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Ernie Wilkins (conductor); George Dorsey (alto saxophone, flute); Jerome Richardson (tenor saxophone, piccolo, flute); Yusef Lateef, Oliver Nelson (tenor saxophone, flute); Arthur Clarke (baritone saxophone); Nat Adderley (trumpet, cornet); Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman (trumpet); George Matthews, Arnett Sparrow, Jimmy Cleveland (trombone); Paul Faulise (bass trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Bobby Timmons, Barry Harris, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans (piano); Sam Jones, Percy Heath (bass); Louis Hayes, Art Blakey, Connie Kay, Charlie Persip (drums); Michael Olatunji (African drums).

Engineers include: Reice Hamel, Ron Malo, Wally Heider.

Recorded between October 20, 1958 and February 28, 1961. Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.

Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (1998, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

Subtitled "The Riverside Years," the Fantasy/Milestone reissue GREATEST HITS collects eight of the best tracks from Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's mid-'50s tenure as one of the emergent stars of the hard-bop scene. An occasional Miles Davis sideman during this time, Adderley also led his own group, featuring his cornetist brother Nat and often pianist Joe Zawinul, both of whom went on to lead their own bands in the '70s.

This material is very different from the soul jazz that the Adderleys and Zawinul popularized in the '60s. Bluesy but harder-edged and more angular than his later work, such tracks as "Work Song," "Things are Getting Better," and the intricate "Waltz for Debby" are outstanding examples of the alto saxophonist's early sound. If you're new to Cannonball Adderley, or if you're only familiar with his better-known later work, this lengthy compilation is an excellent introduction to Adderley's fruitful early era.