The Japanese Concerts
Encyclopedia
The Japanese Concerts is a live album
by jazz
saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Kosei-nenkin Kaikan
and Sankei Hall in Tokyo during his 1963 Japanese tour and featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley
, Yusef Lateef
, Joe Zawinul
, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes
. The album was released on the Milestone
label in 1975 and combines material previously released on Adderley's Nippon Soul
(1963) with an additional disc of unreleased performances from a concert recorded a week earlier. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow
awarded the album 4½ stars and states "Cannonball Adderley's finest group is heard at the peak of their powers on this two-LP set... these musicians were very familiar with each other's playing and they had grown together. The enthusiastic Japanese crowds inspired the all-star band to some of their most rewarding playing... It's a definitive portrait of a classic group".
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Kosei-nenkin Kaikan
Tokyo Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan
, also known as Wel City Tokyo, was a concert hall in Shinjuku, Tokyo.Opened in April 1961, the hall closed on March 31, 2010. Kitaro was one of the artists that performed here....
and Sankei Hall in Tokyo during his 1963 Japanese tour and featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
, Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
, Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...
. The album was released on the Milestone
Milestone Records
Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings....
label in 1975 and combines material previously released on Adderley's Nippon Soul
Nippon Soul
Nippon Soul is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Sankei Hall in Tokyo during his 1963 Japanese tour and released on the Riverside label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes...
(1963) with an additional disc of unreleased performances from a concert recorded a week earlier. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 4½ stars and states "Cannonball Adderley's finest group is heard at the peak of their powers on this two-LP set... these musicians were very familiar with each other's playing and they had grown together. The enthusiastic Japanese crowds inspired the all-star band to some of their most rewarding playing... It's a definitive portrait of a classic group".
Track listing
- Side One:
- "Nippon Soul (Nihon No Soul)" (Julian "Cannonball" Adderley) - 9:34
- "Easy to LoveEasy to Love"Easy to Love" is the title of a R&B single by For Real, it was the second single from their debut album It's a Natural Thang. Billboard magazine noted "super-tight harmonies that are proiminent, but not overshadowing; instatly memorable melody stands as the cut's focal point.-Chart positions:...
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) - 3:49 - "The Weaver" (Yusef Lateef) - 10:50
- Side Two:
- "Tengo Tango" (Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Nat Adderley) - 2:40
- "Come Sunday" (Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
) - 7:03 - "Brother John" (Lateef) - 13:03
- Side Three:
- 'Work Song" (Nat Adderley) - 9:06
- "Autumn LeavesAutumn Leaves (song)"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song "Les Feuilles mortes" with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. Yves Montand introduced "Les feuilles mortes" in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit...
" (Joseph KosmaJoseph KosmaJoseph Kosma was a Hungarian-French composer, of Jewish background.-Biography:Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg...
, Jacques PrévertJacques PrévertJacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...
) - 7:27 - "Dizzy's Business" (Ernie WilkinsErnie WilkinsErnest Brooks Wilkins Jr. was a jazz arranger and writer who also played tenor saxophone. He might be best known for his work with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie...
) - 6:01
- Side Four:
- "Primitivo" (J. Adderley) - 12:12
- "Jive Samba" (N. Adderley) - 10:37
- Recorded at Koseinenkin Kaikan in Tokyo, Japan on July 9 (Sides Three, tracks 1 & 3 and Side Four, track 2), and Sankei Hall in Tokyo, Japan on July 14 (Side One, tracks 2 & 3 and Side Three, track 2) and 15 (Side One track 1 and Side Two and Side Four, track 2), 1963
Personnel
- Cannonball Adderley - alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
- Nat AdderleyNat AdderleyNathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
- cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was... - Yusef LateefYusef LateefDr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
- tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca... - Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Sam Jones - bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Louis HayesLouis HayesLouis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....