BLINDFOLD TEST=. ‘THE RECORD! 1. Cliford Brown. Lover, Come Bock to. Me (irom Cliferd. Brows’ Memorial, Prestige) Brown, Ar! Farmer, trumps; Beng! Hel berg, piano; lors Gulln, baritone saxo phone; "Arne Domnervs, olf” soxophones Gunnar Johnson, bess; jack Noren, drums. Recorded in. September, 1953, in Slot holm, Sweden, CANNONBALL: It’s certainly Clifford Brown and Art Farmer. It has 10 be 1953, For the time, especially, T thought they both sounded very well, And I always liked Bengt Hallberg’s Iyticism. 1 thought this was just fair Lars Gullin. I didn’t lke the alio player, simply because he didn't swing enough. Sounded like Paul Desmond without Paul Desmond’s pretty sound. And the thythm section never really got of the ground. Tt was. interesting to hear how they sounded then. Brownie was startling, with the same facility he always had, Beautiful ‘And Farmer had that warm feeling then that he has today. NAT: You remember the old Basie records with Prez? You know how Prez sounds like a breath of fresh air when he comes in? Sounding so much in front of the rest of what's going on at the time? Well, this is the way it sounds to me with Brownie and Art Bengt Hallberg plays well, but T can't stand that way of playing with the left hhand. That's one of my pet hates, piano players who use the left hand like that. But I liked what he was doing with his right hand, The rest of the cats, I didn't dig ‘em, period CANNONBALL: That alto player must have been Arne Domnerus. NAT: Well, he sure got a lot better a Tiule later on, “cause T heard something, aise by him when I was over there. T sguess TL give this about 3¥4 for Brownie and Art—and for the time it was made Td have given it an awful lot more if i ‘wasn't for that shythm section CANNONBALL: If it was 1953 oF early °S4, it was during the height of the West Coast jazz thing, where the foreign cats’ conly point of reference was the cats out in California. If those cats_were_ intl enced by Gerry Mulligan and Paul Des mond and so forth, I-can understand it, and T even sympathize with them, so Td isagree with you on the rating and give them four stars. Cannonball THE ADDERLEY tionalist. Inde are reais broad. PART TWO NAT: You can give ‘em four, but Til stick with my rating, ‘cause that ain't even 00d West Coast! ‘CANNONBALL: good Europe? NAT: That ain't even good Alabama! The Swingers Gat the Orbit, Columb 1 horn, compen rampet; Johnay Hodges records played, You don't think it's foropheneElington, piano) CANNONBALL: I liked everything but the rubato parts, I's worth wading through all that just to get to a few bars of Ray Nance and Johnny Hodges. Plus Duke's ‘comp is always interesting. What was that in there? Sounded like 2 baritone horn, NAT: Gotta give that a whole lot of ‘CANNONBALL: That would be unfair, to give it too many, because Duke's done 4 Tot of better things, But for Nance and Hodges give it four. NAT: I'll give it 4¥4, Let me hear Ray's solo again! 2. deckia. Melson, Quedrongle (fom Jacki tog, Blve Not), Mclean, ello saxophone, omperer, Donold Byrd, Wumpely Sonny Clark, pioro; Poul Chombers, best; Philly NAT: You know, cats like Ornette and them should listen to somebody like Jackie. Hes been out front like this for years. In fact, it isn't Ornette that should listen to him; 1 take that back. I's the people that are fostering that kind of thing, Nat Hentoff and them, should listen to what Jackie McLean is doing, and they'll find out, that what Ornette’s doing—it really aint out there. You remember that thing. Melanie that Tackie wrote a long time ‘ago? You can't do anything hipper than that CANNONBALL: My first impression was that it was Max Roach’s group, be- cause the last part of that writing sounded like Booker Lit’ style of writing. Plus Donald's vibrato was similar to Booker’s. T could tell this was Donald; he has & lot of facility, but his chop trouble some- times comes through in his playing. I guess it was Jackie's writing, and T enjoyed it for the solos and everything. Five NAT? 444. 4A. John Kirby. Milumbu (Colombio}, Charlo Shavers, mumpet, ‘comporor, Rursll Pro ope, allo sorophones Buster Bolley, car By LEONARD FEATHER In introducing Cannonball Adderley when he was frst tested (DB, Nov. 28, 1956), I pointed out that “though he clearly shows the Chailie Parker Stamp, he considers himself a tradi , by his standards, traditional jazz, which to the older musicians tuntrammeled by the inroads of bebop, now means anything up to and including bop unhampered by the impact of too much pretension and classical influence,” Taso mentioned that Pete Brown's alto saxophone influenced him to take up this instrument, when he was having trouble with his chops playing trumpet. His other influences were tenor men like Coleman Hawkins and Hen Webster To this I would add that both Cannonball and Nat Adderley whose responses are as honest as the id critics once meant New Orleans style aly The first half of the following test was printed in the previous issue. Neither Adderley received any information about the Inet; ONell Spencer, drums eri 1940, "ANNONBALL: Whenever this was recorded, the performance was superb. ‘And they swung. Kirby's group was just too much. This was the first small band during the big-band era that made me sit up and take notice. Superb ideas and musicianship, and O'Neil Spencer was a fantastic drummer, Shavers, Buster Bailey everybody in the band was steat. Who came firs, Procope or Benny Carter? Chronologically, I mean. Our radio station in Tallahassee years ago had a great radio transcription made by the Kirby group, and we just sat glued to the radi. NAT: Five. CANNONBALL: Five. the sist. Eight ‘composers Jack “oe. Benianin, 4 Roland. Kin, Doin Rit” Werk, Presigs! Icbet, ‘Hemmord ‘organ: ton NAT: He plays so._many funny instru- ments—'m not sure, but that second one wasn't an alto, sot must have been the Inanzsllo or the stich or whatever T like what he played on the second solo better than what he played on the tenor. T was impressed that this time he managed 0 keep both horns in tune CANNONBALL! I think it was a so- prano, and it sounded good. 1 have lone teen @ Roland Kirk supporter, for more reasons than one. It amazes me that he ean play all the horns at one time, but 1 also think he's genuinely talented ‘The organist must have been a piano player, because T noticed that he let the figure he'd. been playing throughout £0 when he took his solos. 1 kaow he's got two keyboards, and he had a bass player, 0 he could have kept it going. That was the weakest part of the record, A. pretty ood record, and because of ils uniqueness, ven more interesting NAT: I knew it was Roland Kick whea he played the stem. T wasn't sure during the tenor solo; andthe second solo, when it'began to sound like a soprano, I knew it wasn't Trane, and it certainly, wasn't Steve Lacy. The other cats played what they were supposed (0, 1 guess ‘CANNONBALL: For Roland Kirk, four NAT: I agree, April 26, 1982 #43 (tom