Sophisticated Swing

Product Description:

SOPHISTICATED SWING: THE EMARCY SMALL GROUP SESSIONS contains SOPHISTICATED SWING, CANNONBALL ENROUTE, SHARPSHOOTERS and TO THE IVY LEAGUE FROM NAT.

Personnel: Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone); Nat Adderley (cornet); Junior Mance (piano); Sam Jones, Al McKibbon (bass); Jimmy Cobb. Specs (drums).

Producer: Bob Shad.

Compilation producer: Michael Lang.

Recorded between July 12, 1956 and March 6, 1958. Includes liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

Digitally remastered by Steven Fallone (Polygram Studios).

This two-disc compilation of material recorded in the mid-'50s for New York's EmArcy Records covers Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's earliest years as a bandleader on New York's hard-bop scene. SOPHISTICATED SWING shows that although the alto saxophonist was a hard-bop star, he never limited himself to that hard-edged, bluesy style.

Heavily influenced by the Miles Davis/Gil Evans "Birth of the Cool" band and by the Modern Jazz Quartet, Adderley essays a number of ballads here. He favors a lush, rounded tone not unlike Benny Carter's. Adderley's band features renowned bassist Sam Jones and the saxophonist's cornetist brother, Nat. Jones plays cello on several of the ballads, giving them an unusual sound that prefigures third stream, a jazz/classical hybrid style popular later in the decade. The aptly titled SOPHISTICATED SWING features all of Adderley's EmArcy recordings, with remastered sound.