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NATURAL SOO Le

Above: Burrell, Adderley and Mance run through a number.

Below: Hall and Cranshaw.

Milestone MSP 9009 (stereo)

CE 244 ASSNS

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NAT ADDERLEY, cornet; KENNY BURRELL (#) or JIM HALL, guitar;

JUNIOR MANCE, piano; BOB CRANSHAW, bass; MICKEY ROKER, drums

A JUNAT PRODUCTION; production supervision by ORRIN KEEPNEWS

SIDE 1 1. FOO FOO (4:12) # 2. LITTLE BIG HORN (5:19) # 3. ROSES FOR YOUR PILLOW (5:08) 4. HALF-TIME (4:47)

SIDE 2 1. EL CHICO (6:41) 2. BROADWAY LADY (4:17) 3. LONELINESS (4:15) # 4. HUSTLE WITH RUSSELL (4:19) #

All selections composed by NAT ADDERLEY (except Half-Time, by Julian and Nat Adderley); Dillard Music (BMI)

For quite some time now, sou/ has been one of the

most frequently manufactured products of the record business. Sometimes it is properly made to order; but too often it seems just a bit mass-produced. It comes in all shapes and sizes — from girl singers who deliver the righteous gospel sound (only the words have been changed, to something a little more earthy), on through down-home wailing background violinists (probably picking up some small change on a day off from the Philharmonic), down to funky instrumental groups (some combinations — like organ and tenor — are auto- matically certified as soulful; others may have to work real hard at it). Any kind of song can be put into the soul bag, but it is generally looked on as wasteful not

to include in every instrumental-soul program a couple

of recent vocal hits.... :

All things considered, it’s not really surprising that

so much of the stuff sounds as if it came out of the same

meat-grinder. If there were any justice in the world,

we would all be equipped with an internal alarm system

that would set off buzzers, or light up a “Tilt” sign, whenever an example of the machine-made pseudo- soul product came into earshot. Lacking such a device, all one can do is to pay close attention in an effort to separate the false (which is usually very professional- sounding and often quite deceptive) from the true.

Obviously enough, one purpose of the preceding comment on what’s wrong is to emphasize the rightness of the recording at hand. This album has been given the title ‘‘Natural Soul’ — presumably the intention is to underline the difference between what is going on here and anything artificial, forced and un-natural. The point is very well taken. Nat Adderley is one of those people who don’t have to make any deliberate effort to become soulful; he just naturally is, and that’s the way he plays. What he does on this LP is in itself a fine living definition of what musical “‘soul”’ is all about, thereby saving us the trouble of trying to spell it out in words.

Nat is a member of a most musical family, and a

long-time colleague of his older brother Julian — more commonly known as Cannonball Adderley. (It has been noted that there is something very soulful about two brothers, in or out of music, getting on as well and working together as closely as they do!) Nat spends the greater part of his professional energies within the

framework of Cannonball’s highly successful band; but

when he can be persuaded to step out and record on

his own, the result is usually very pleasurably unique, with its own distinctive flavor. Among other things, Nat is a notable composer: his credits include such full-

fledged hits as Sermonette, Jive Samba and Work Song.

Thus he enjoys the challenge and opportunity of putting

together an entire program of his own material, as he

has done here. No need to copy someone else's hit-

type tune: Foo Foo can stand on its own quite nicely, thank you; and E/ Chico has its own approach to the funky-Latin bag. There are even two examples of that rarest kind of jazz original: Loneliness and Roses for Your Pillow are both warm and touching ballads. (Ac- tually, not all the numbers are strictly Nat’s; Ha/f-Time, with a football reference in its title that becomes clear once you listen, was co-authored by Cannonball.)

Calling Nat a ‘‘natural soul” is certainly not to call

him a country boy. The man, like his music, is usually

very direct and unpretentious, but sometimes quite

sophisticated and often deeply tinged with wry humor.

Above all, he is an unfailingly intelligent and interesting

performer; and the same can be said for his associates

here. Junior Mance, who played with Nat in the very

first Cannonball Adderley Quintet, is as fine a blues pianist as you could hope to find. The special sound

here, of course, is the cornet-and-guitar combination,

and it is equally special whether the guitarist is Kenny Burrell or Jim Hall. Rather than get into any analysis of either of these major figures, let’s just note that Kenny (who is the more bluesy) at times plays prettier than you might expect, while Jim (with the softer touch) at times becomes very mean indeed.

When you notice the recording dates, you'll find that

this is not a brand-new album (something | very much

doubt you could learn from the very up-to-date music itself). Actually, these sides have had a sort of under- ground fame; originally, very few copies were pressed by a label that almost immediately went out of business. So this really represents the first normal chance for listeners to latch on to this program by the soulful younger Adderley. And I’m sure there will be general agreement that it’s much better late than never!

— LEW MARTIN

Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios (New York City) on Sept. 23 (#) and Oct. 4, 1963. Recording Engineer: RAY FOWLER. Re-mastered, Feb. 1968, by RAY HAGGERTY (Madison Sound Studios). Cover photograph by CHARLES STEWART. Back-liner photographs by ED MICHEL. Album design by STUDIO GRAFICA LTD.

This material previously had brief and limited distribution in 1964 on another label under the album title ‘Little Big Horn.” It is the property of Junat Productions, and is released at this time by spe- cial arrangement with them.

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