African Waltz

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email

  • Artist: Cannonball Adderley
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1961
  • Total Time: 35:04
  • Type: Instrumental
  • Genre: Jazz

Review

The music on this CD reissue is better than it should be. Cannonball Adderley had a fluke hit with "African Waltz" so a full album was recorded with the hope of coming up with additional hits. These 11 selections (which include "African Waltz") feature altoist Adderley backed by an 18-piece big band with arrangements provided by Ernie Wilkins and Bob Brookmeyer. The tunes clock in between two and five minutes and leave little room for much improvising by anyone other than Cannonball, his brother Nat on cornet, and pianist Wynton Kelly. There is some strong material on the set (including "West Coast Blues," "Stockholm Sweetnin'" and a remake of "This Here") but the results are not too substantial and this was not that big a seller; it is still a reasonably enjoyable effort. [Originally released in 1963, African Waltz was remastered on CD in 1993.] ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Previous:African Voices: N'Chant Nguru (2007 Album by Various Artists)
Next:African Waltz [Japan Bonus Track] (1961 Album by Cannonball Adderley)
Top
African Waltz
Studio album by Cannonball Adderley
Released 1961
Recorded February 28, May 9 & 15, 1961
Genre Jazz
Length 35:04
Label Riverside
Producer Orrin Keepnews
Cannonball Adderley chronology
Know What I Mean?
(1961)
African Waltz
(1961)
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Plus
(1961)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]

African Waltz is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, released on the Riverside label and performed by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Ernie Wilkins.[2] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album three stars and states: "The music on this CD reissue is better than it should be. Cannonball Adderley had a fluke hit with "African Waltz" so a full album was recorded with the hope of coming up with additional hits... There is some strong material on the set (including "West Coast Blues," "Stockholm Sweetnin'" and a remake of "This Here") but the results are not too substantial and this was not that big a seller; it is still a reasonably enjoyable effort".[3]

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Something Different" (Chuck Mangione) – 3:04
  2. "West Coast Blues" (Wes Montgomery) – 4:04
  3. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (Jerome Kern) – 3:02
  4. "The Uptown" (Junior Mance) – 2:15
  5. "Stockholm Sweetnin'" (Quincy Jones) – 3:41
  6. "African Waltz" (Galt MacDermot) – 2:12
  7. "Blue Brass Groove" (Nat Adderley) – 4:52
  8. "Kelly Blue" (Wynton Kelly) 3:51
  9. "Letter from Home" (Mance) – 2:00
  10. "I'll Close My Eyes" (Buddy Kaye, Billy Reid) – 3:42
  11. "This Here" (Bobby Timmons) – 3:00 Bonus track on CD
  • Recorded at Plaza Sound Studio, NYC, on February 28 (tracks 6 & 8), May 9 (tracks 1-3, 7, 9 & 11), and May 15 (tracks 4, 5, 10 & 12), 1961.

Personnel

Production

  • Orrin Keepnews – Producer
  • Ken Deardoff – Album design
  • Hugh Bell – Cover photography
  • Steve Schapiro – Back-liner photography
  • Ray Fowler – Recording engineer
  • Riverside Records produced by Bill Grauer Productions, Inc.

References

  1. ^ Allmusic Review
  2. ^ Cannonball Adderley discography accessed 2 November 2009
  3. ^ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed 19 October 2009

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

African Waltz (1961 Album by Cannonball Adderley)
African Waltz [Japan Bonus Tracks] (2001 Album by Cannonball Adderley)
African Waltz [Japan Bonus Track] (2006 Album by Cannonball Adderley)
Down Town With Graeme Bell (1974 Album by Graeme Bell)
Alabama/Africa (1958 Album by Cannonball Adderley)