Recorded live in Tokyo on July 14th and 15th, 1963,
Nippon Soul is not the Asian-jazz fusion suggested by the title (check out
Cal Tjader's
Several Shades of Jade and
Breeze From the East for that), but a solid live set that showcases one of
Cannonball Adderley's finest groups, featuring himself, brother
Nat Adderley on cornet, bassist
Sam Jones, drummer
Louis Hayes, and most notably pianist
Joe Zawinul and reedsman
Yusef Lateef. Both near the beginnings of their careers,
Zawinul and
Lateef nonetheless dominate this set; two of the original tracks are by
Lateef, including the centerpiece "Brother John," for
John Coltrane and featuring an astonishing extended
Lateef solo on oboe, an instrument not normally associated with jazz, but which takes on an almost Middle Eastern fluidity and grace in its approximation of
Coltrane's "sheets of sound" technique.
Zawinul arranged the standards for the group, reinterpreting
Cole Porter's warm "Easy to Love" as a fleet bebop vehicle for a wicked
Adderley solo and working the "Come Sunday" section of
Duke Ellington's "Black, Brown and Beige" into a full gospel-style call and response between himself and
Jones. Often overlooked, this is one of
Adderley's finest albums. The CD reissue includes an extra track, an extended take on "Work Song." ~ Stewart Mason