Domination

Following suit with several other great jazz soloists, Cannonball Adderley teamed with Oliver Nelson and a star-studded 18-piece big band plus percussionists for this program of big-band-coerced modern post-bop. Brother Nat Adderley joins Cannonball, in many instances playing tandem lines, while the alto saxophonist plays solos on many of these selections, all originals written by a variety of authors. If you remember Cannonball Adderley's first album in collaboration with Quincy Jones, you can easily correlate the similarities between the two recordings. The difference is that because of the larger choice of composers, the music has a larger palette, but not necessarily one that is focused. Bop is the central character, as heard during the title track in its truly collaborative sound and the exceptional track "Gon Gong," based in a two-note vehicle that supports the alto saxophonist and the horn section. Both Adderley brothers play together quite a bit on head melodies, with the exotic, self-explanatory "Introduction to a Samba" and the boppish "Interlude" as the best examples. Getting more into the Latin bit, "Shake a Lady" simmers slowly in a hip and sexy Afro-Cuban cha-cha, while "Cyclops," despite the unwieldy title, is a typical soul-jazz number that Nelson regularly doled out, with counterpointed brass and woodwinds battling it out. On the reissued CD version is the 20-minute "Experience in E" with a 47-piece ensemble, originally released on the LP Quintet & Orchestra from 1970. An indulgent piece to say the least, it features strings, the orchestration of William Fischer, and some electric keyboard work by Joe Zawinul, whose style suggests a prelude to Weather Report. It goes through bop changes, rambling and stealth phases, a nearly tacit section, solos by Nat Adderley and drummer Roy McCurdy, and a swinging coda, and is a bit too schizophrenic to command attention for the full duration. While not an essential or pivotal recording in Cannonball Adderley's career, Domination is one of few big-band joint efforts, an intriguing studio-produced sidebar in his otherwise stellar discography. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi