Cannonball in Japan (Capitol 1966)

[monkboughtlunch]

I have not heard this one. This is out of print in the U.S.

Does Cuscuna plan to reissue and/or remix this?

Allmusic seems to pan this one and say Adderley wasn't inspired. Has anybody heard this one? How are the performances and sound quality? How did the 1990 Capital CD sound? How does the 2003 Japanese CD sound?

Edited October 15, 2006 by monkboughtlunch

[monkboughtlunch]

Scott Yanow gives this one 1.5 stars? Is it really that bad or Yanow smoking crack? The set list looks awesome! What bonus tracks were on the Japanese edition? Was the Japanese pressing a remix?

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:hc60tr5lkl1x

Review by Scott Yanow

Performing some of their finest songs ("Work Song," "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," "This Here," "Money in the Pocket," "The Sticks" and "Jive Samba"), the Cannonball Adderley Quintet is strangely uninspired during this Japanese concert, just going through the motions. Perhaps they were already tired of this material or maybe it was jet lag. In any case, this CD is a disappointment.

1 Work Song Adderley, Brown 4:30

2 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Zawinul 5:20

3 This Here Hendricks, Timmons 10:09

4 Money in the Pocket Rowser, Zawinul 10:39

5 The Sticks Adderley 4:03

6 Jive Samba Adderley 8:36

Releases Other Editions

Year

Type

Label

Catalog #

1990 CD Capitol C2-93560

Edition

Japan Bonus Track

Edited October 15, 2006 by monkboughtlunch

[monkboughtlunch]

Here are all tunes recorded by Capitol for this lp

http://www.jazzdisco.org/adderley/dis/c/

Cannonball Adderley Quintet

same personnel

"Sankei Hall", Tokyo, Japan, August 26, 1966

56953 Blue 'n' Boogie rejected

56954 The Sticks Capitol (J) CP 8096

56955 Bohemia After Dark unissued

56956 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Capitol (J) CP 8096

56957 This Here (Dis Here) -

56958 Jive Samba -

56959 Hippodelphia rejected

56960 Lover Man -

56961 Money in the Pocket Capitol (J) CP 8096

56962 Work Song -

* Cannonball Adderley - Cannonball in Japan (Capitol (J) CP 8096)

[jazzbo]

Sound is fine on the US cd of this one.

I don't agree with Yanow (I don't read critics anymore, they're welcome to their opinions, I don't always know how to evaluate them and I just don't waste time). Not unispired. MAYBE a little "another good night". . . Not groundbreaking. But glad to have it. LOVE Cannon.

[LJazz]

Have to agree with Jazzbo on this. The sound is fine and the playing, while not earth shattering, is still good -- we ARE talking about Cannonball here! Bottom line is I definitely have other Cannon that I return to more frequently, but 1.5 stars is a bit harsh IMHO.

Edited October 15, 2006 by LJazz

[DMP]

Certainly better than 1 1/2 stars (no sticks!), but, on the other hand, not up to the earlier Riverside recordings of the Adderley group in Japan.

[Dan Gould]

Calling Scott Yanow!

Is this CD still a disappointment, Scott?

Or maybe you were hung over, or in a "mood" when you listened? I think we've all been there, when a CD doesn't do it for us one time, and then the next, its a totally different reaction.

(In all honesty, I grabbed the domestic issue of this and wasn't blown away. Sounded like another night in another town, or in this case, another country. Not disappointing but not revelatory or even particularly memorable.)

Edited October 15, 2006 by Dan Gould

[monkboughtlunch]

Was the 1990 CD a remix from the 3 tracks? Or was the 2003 Japanese reissue with a previously unissued Bohemia a remix?

[Scott Yanow]

Yes, the musicians are great and the set list looks very promising. But the results are dull and uninspired. Perhaps I should have given it two stars but it is definitely a weak effort. Put it on next to some of the 1963 concerts, say Japanese Concerts or Dizzy's Business, and tell me with a straight face that this is on the same level.

Sorry but Cannonball sounds bored. Not every performance by every great musician is stellar.

[monkboughtlunch]

Thanks Scott -- when you say Japanese 63 concerts are you referring to Nippon Soul and Dizzy's Business as being superior?

[Morganized]

  Scott Yanow said:

Yes, the musicians are great and the set list looks very promising. But the results are dull and uninspired. Perhaps I should have given it two stars but it is definitely a weak effort. Put it on next to some of the 1963 concerts, say Japanese Concerts or Dizzy's Business, and tell me with a straight face that this is on the same level.

Sorry but Cannonball sounds bored. Not every performance by every great musician is stellar.

  monkboughtlunch said:

Thanks Scott -- when you say Japanese 63 concerts are you referring to Nippon Soul and Dizzy's Business as being superior?

Woa, that had me confused for a minute. Nippon Soul and Dizzy's Business are two of my favorite Cannonball dates. Excellent IMHO......Guess I am not familiar with the recent Capital release.

Edited October 15, 2006 by Morganized

[LJazz]

  Scott Yanow said:

Yes, the musicians are great and the set list looks very promising. But the results are dull and uninspired. Perhaps I should have given it two stars but it is definitely a weak effort. Put it on next to some of the 1963 concerts, say Japanese Concerts or Dizzy's Business, and tell me with a straight face that this is on the same level.

Sorry but Cannonball sounds bored. Not every performance by every great musician is stellar.

No argument here. Not my favorite set by Cannonball by a long shot and certainly not essential, but based upon some of the AMG ratings I've seen, 1 1/2 stars just seems a little out of whack.

[BruceH]

Shoot, for a minute there I thought you all were talking about Nippon Soul. Now that's a good album. Also hardly groundbreaking, but calling it dull and uninspired seemed a bit off. I don't have the one under discussion, and I long ago gave up the notion of being a Cannonball completist. So...nevermind.

[Scott Yanow]

Yes sorry, I meant Nippon Soul and Dizzy's Business. Japanese Concerts was a double-Lp reissue of those records. That is some of my favorite Cannonball Adderley, great stuff.

[monkboughtlunch]

I picked this one up as a Japanese import which contains one bonus track.

I must say that this is a very good date with good sound quality for a period location recording. Perhaps this was engineered by a Japanese team, which explains the detail to sound fidelity?

I think Yanow was a bit reductive in his 1.5 star (out of 5 stars) review.

While this date isn't groundbreaking, it does find the quintet exploring many of their signature works for an appreciative Japanese audience. The arrangements for many of their concert warhorses here receive some modifications and new flourishes to keep them fresh.

Cannonball states that there are "Things going on in our country right now. Most of them bad. But everything is gonna be alright." The quintet then launches in Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. A great piece of social commentary from the band which espoused an optimistic ethos in the midst of a country being torn apart by Vietnam. It's like Cannonball was saying: there's a lot of bullshit going on with the war and the struggle for civil rights, but the country will survive. Priceless.

This is very good soul jazz with a post-modern bop undertoe. It's not as classic as the superb "At The Lighthouse 1960" date but it's a good date.

I would give this one a solid three stars on a five star scale. 1.5 stars definitely underserves these very good performances of band at their peak. I'm not hearing any jetlag here.

Edited October 21, 2006 by monkboughtlunch

[Clunky]

I agree with Scott, one of Adderley's lesser efforts, I tired of this pretty quickly, his earlier efforts on Riverside and Mercury are very much better.