Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band Live at Cory Weeds' Jazz Club

Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band
Live at Cory Weeds' Jazz Club
Cellar Live Records

As many know, drummer Louis Hayes was a cornerstone of the Cannonball Adderley Band for several years. In honor of the great saxophonist, he has led a Cannonball Adderly Legacy Band. This live recording from Cory Weeds' Vancouver, BC club has him joined by Dezron Douglas on bass, Rick Germanson on piano, Vincent Herring on alto sax, and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet. Cory Weeds adds tenor sax on one selection.

Not much to say, but this quintet captures the blues-drenched hard bop soul that characterized Adderley's great band. Indeed, things get off to a terrific start with "Exodus." The performances throughout are outstanding with the rendition of "Dat Here," with a superb Germanson solo being a specific highlight. Hayes and Douglas drive the hot grooves here while Herring and Pelt are characteristically exceptional. The closing notes of "Sack Of Woe" conclude a superb performance.

This recording is available as a download from Bandcamp, https://louishayes.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-cory-weeds-jazz-club.

I purchased this download. This review appeared in the March-April 2020 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 389). Here is the Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band performing at Cory Weeds' Jazz Club in 2013.

Johnny Griffith Quintet The Lion, Camel & Child

Johnny Griffith Quintet
The Lion, Camel & Child
G-B Records

Toronto saxophonist Griffith leads his Quintet of fellow Toronto jazz All-Stars, Adrean Farrugia - Piano; Jon Maharaj - Bass; and Ethan Ardelli - Drums; along with the great Jeremy Pelt on trumpet. This is Griffith's second recording, and he drew inspiration from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche - specifically the book Three Metamorphoses. As Griffith explains, “Metamorphoses is concerned with what propels each new phase of human growth, so it seemed fitting to frame this as a suite – each track individual unto itself, yet when listened to as a whole representing the arc of the personal struggle to know more and be more.”

Opening this recording is the four-part title suite illustrates the phases of Nietzsche and the qualities defining: "The Lion," virtuous and rebellious; "The Camel," courageous and dutiful; and "The Child," playful and free of spirit. "The Lion" opens at a brisk tempo with the leader displaying a full robust tone and a fertile musical imagination with Pelt in a melodic vein and centered in the middle range with occasional upper range bursts. One also is impressed by this first-class rhythm section, that transitions into the relaxed walking pace of "The Camel" that features Farrugia's stately piano solo as Maharaj and Ardelli provide a hint of the Mid-East caravan procession enhanced by the joint horns. A solo "Cadenza" by Griffith transitions into "The Child" a vigorous performance opening with heated tenor sax, followed by fiery trumpet and strong two-handed piano and a dynamic drum solo.

Not just the writing, but the entire ensemble displays its considerable virtues throughout this CD. "Narcomedusae," is another notable performance with Pelt exceptional here on a composition that might evoke comparison to classic sixties Blue Note recordings. Then there is the animated hard bop of "Strawberry Qwik," a lovely ballad "Amarone," with Pelt's pretty muted trumpet along with Griffith's own marvelous ballad playing. Other notable performances include the fiery "For a Derailed Painter" with explosive solos from the horns and pianist Farrugia. Bassist Maharaj solos at the beginning of "Deliciously Ambiguous" a relaxed groover with more engaging solos by Griffith, Pelt, and Farrugia.

Johnny Griffith impresses as a composer, saxophonist, and leader He has a fabulous band here with Pelt and a wonderful rhythm section that play superlatively throughout this outstanding recording.

I received a download to review from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the March-April 2019 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 383).

Judith Lorick The Second Time Around

Judith Lorick
The Second Time Around
JLJ International

Besides being the title of one the standards, the title of this album (Lorick's second) also refers to her own story of a love lost in youth which gets rekindled 44 years later. She is joined on her exploration of love lost and found by pianist Eric Reed, who collaborated with her on her prior recording, Kiyoshi Kitigawa on bass, McClenty Hunter on drums, Jeremy Pelt on trumpet and Chris Lewis on tenor saxophone.

The cd package contains her reflections on the meaning of each song. For example, on the opening "Why Did I Choose You," she writes "We meet in 1967 and I see the heart you hide so well. For Tadd Dameron's classic "If You Could See Me Now," she notes "1970, You leave me, and I'm heartbroken." She states about the title track, "Lovelier, twice as wonderful, this miracle we found."

Her notes may relate to the selection of material, but what stands out it is her performance of these songs. This is an album of mostly ballads. Despite the predominance of languid tempos, the combination of Ms. Lorick's vocals, Eric Reed's arrangements, and the instrumental accompaniment leads to a marvelous recording. One is struck by the warmth and emotion that Ms. Lorick expresses throughout. she sings softly with clear enunciation, her vocal dynamics and phrasing that brings out the meaning of these songs, whether she expresses a longing for a love that seems to have been lost as in the Dameron classic (bassist Kitigawa stands out in his solo here as Hunter deftly plays with brushes), or celebrates in a restrained manner finding her lost love on the title track (accompanied solely by Reed's sophisticated backing). Reed's accompaniment on "He Needs Me," also gracefully supports the expression of longing in her vocal.

The support Kitigawa and Hunter provide adds to the appeal of these performances as do the solo contributions of Pelt (the soft, expressive playing on "Why Did I Choose You" or his bright middle register playing on "Wild Is the Wind") and Lewis (who provides a lovely tenor sax break on "Lucky to Be Me"), both enhancing the sophisticated elegance of the performances on this superlative, moving recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist.

David Weiss' Endangered Species: The Music of Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter's 80th Birthday (which was two days prior to this review being posted) has led to  world-wide celebrations of Shorter's music. For example, in Washington DC, there have been several groups leading retrospectives of Shorter's compositions from different stages of his career. In a similar vein, trumpeter David Weiss arranged and orchestrated several Shorter compositions and then assembled an All-Star, twelve member big band. This band performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center where they were recorded. Endangered Species: The Music of Wayne Shorter (Motéma Music) is collected from those performances.

Its quite a band that Weiss assembled. The saxophone section included Tim Green on alto sax; Marcus Strickland on tenor and soprano sax; Ravi Coltrane on tenor saxophone and Norbert Stachel on baritone sax and bass clarinet. Diego Urcola and Jeremy Pelt along with Weiss are the trumpet section while Joe Fiedler and Steve Davis are on trombone. The rhythm section has Geri Allen on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums. This large group provides for a different take on these compositions than generally were initially heard when first recorded with smaller groups. Also, it does result with a certain similarity between the performances whereas Shorter's performance of a composition such as Nellie Bly with Art Blakey would have a different flavor than Fall with Miles Davis.

With that in mind, there are plenty of pleasures. Weiss' arrangements provided a rich backdrop along with the marvelous full ensemble playing to set the mood and frame the solos. The rhythm section sparkles with Geri Allen stunning both as part of the rhythm and as soloist . Throughout there are plenty of brilliant playing including trombonist Davis at the beginning of Nellie Bly; trumpeter Pelt and saxophonist Coltrane on Fall; Tim Green on "Mr. Jin"; Marcus Strickland on soprano sax on Weiss' The Turning Gate (the one non-Shorter composition but based on one of Shorter's works); Pelt and Allen on the lovely ballad Eva; and Pelt and Strickland on the closing Prometheus Unbound.

Whether one agrees with annotator Bill Milkowski that Wayne Shorter is jazz's greatest living composer, there is little question that he is amongst the greatest and has produced one of the most significant body of compositions over six decades. By investing the compositions with his own musical vision and assembling a terrific band, David Weiss has produced this substantial salute to Wayne Shorter that shows how fresh and contemporary the music of Wayne Shorter remains as it continues to inspire so many musicians and listeners.

I received my review copy from a publicist for this release.  

Cannonball Legacy Band Honor's Sax Great's Legacy

The following review was written for Jazz & Blues Report in October 2006 and appeared in the January -February 2007 issue (# 290).

Its been sometime since Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderly passed away and a few since his brother Nat passed away. Louis Hayes, drummer for Adderly forty years ago has been leading a tribute band to the legendary saxophonist and the terrific band Hayes was such a part of. This writer had the pleasure to catch Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Legacy Band at the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and enjoyed their set that brought to life some of the classics the Adderly Brothers were remembered for. Savant has just issued Maximum Firepower from Hayes and the Cannonball Legacy Band that showcases there fine music. In addition to Hayes, the Legacy Band includes Vincent Herring on alto sax, Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn, and Richard Goods on bass. Anthony Wonsey and Rick Germanson hare the piano chair.

This is a nice overview of the Adderly Brothers’ repertoire although it omits a couple of the best known songs (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Work Song). There is a pretty varied group of writers represented here including Quincy Jones (Jessica’s Birthday), Bobby Timmons (This Here), Nat Adderly (Little Boy With the Sad Eyes), Charles Lloyd (Sweet Georgia Bright), Victor Feldman (New Delhi), Cannonball (Sack ‘o Woe), and Sam Jones (Unit 7) with one original from Jeremy Pelt (The Two of Them), and the performances are consistently focused and strong. Herring and Pelt play strong heads as well as solos (check out the beginning of This Here), and the band plays this strong hard bop set with plenty of heat and swing. Hayes himself remains a wonderful drummer near five decades later and the Rudy Van Gelder recording wonderfully captures his playing as well as the entire group. This is a marvelous set which will appeal to the same sort of gritty hard bop that the Adderly’s provided decades ago.

For FTC regulations, I received this to review from the publication this review originally appeared in.