Most of the albums that
Nat Adderley recorded in the '60s employed a saxophonist;
Yusef Lateef,
Joe Henderson and
Charlie Rouse were among the tenor heavyweights he featured. But
Naturally! is an exception to that rule. Produced by
Orrin Keepnews for Jazzland in 1961,
Naturally! was the cornetist's first album of quartet performances.
Adderley uses two different rhythm sections on this date. One consists of three players he knew from brother
Cannonball's group: bassist
Sam Jones, drummer
Louis Hayes, and pianist
Joe Zawinul (nine years before
Weather Report). The other rhythm section is comprised of musicians who had worked as
Miles Davis' sidemen: pianist
Wynton Kelly, bassist
Paul Chambers, and drummer
Philly Joe Jones. And whatever rhythm section he is working with,
Adderley never has a saxophonist on these performances -- most of which have a strong
Miles Davis influence and a relaxed sense of swing.
Adderley goes for a fast, busy sound on
Sonny Rollins' "Oleo" -- which lends itself to that type of approach -- but the cornetist is a lot more relaxed and economical on "Love Letters," "Chloe," and the title track. For the most part,
Naturally! is a bop album, although
Adderley gets into a modal post-bop groove on
Sonny Red's "Images."
Red, an alto saxophonist with a definite
Charlie Parker/
Jackie McLean influence, was hell-belt for bop most of the time -- and "Images" (which sounds like a combination of
John Coltrane's "Impressions" and
Kurt Weill's "Speak Low") isn't typical of his writing. Nonetheless, it's a great, if overlooked, tune that works nicely for
Adderley, who was 29 when he recorded this solid and pleasing (if less than essential) album. ~ Alex Henderson