Recorded in Plaza Sound Studio , NYC - 

February 28,1961: tracks 6/8/13
May 9,1961 : tracks 1/2/3/7/9
May 15, 1961 : tracks 4/5/10/12

The personnel of the Cannonball Adderley Orchestra

Nat Adderley, Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Nick Travis,trumpets;
Bob Brookmeyer, Melba Liston, Jimmy Cleveland, Paul Faulise, trombones;
Cannonball Adderley, alto sax;George Dorsey, alto sax and flute;
Jerome Richardson, Oliver Nelson, tenor sax and flutes;Arthur Clarke, baritone sax;
Don Butterfield, tuba;
Wynton Kelly, piano;
Sam Jones,bass;
Charlie Persip or Louis Hayes, drums; Ray Barretto, conga.

On AfricanWaltz and Kelly Blue:
George Matthews, Arnett Sparrow, trombones, In place of Brookmeyer and MissListon;
Joe Newman, trumpet, In place of Travis;
Michael Olatunji, African drums, in place of Barretto.

(Kelly and Hayes appear courtesy of Vee- Jay Records;Nelson courtesy of Prestige Records.)

Orchestra conducted by Ernie Wilkins.
I'll Close My Eyes and Stockholm Sweetnin' arranged by Brookmeyer; all others by Wilkins.
(Brookmeyer solos on West Coast Blues, Nelson on Blue Brass Groove, Richardson - on piccolo - on Letter From Home. All other solos are by the Adderley brothers and Wynton Kelly.)

       If you're looking for today's music in its biggest and most exciting form, this unique album is strictly for you.

The surging, compelling, thoroughly earthy sound of this orchestra, led by CANNONBALL ADDERLEY and including as impressive a roster of jazz stars as has ever been assembled, has already been responsible for a major breakthrough on the musical front.

In March of 1961, the issuance on a 45-rpm single record of the rip-snorting Adderley performance of African Waltz caused a swift and totally unlooked-forupheaval. Quickly and enthusiastically accepted by a wide public, It leaped almost overnight into the bestseller category. For the first time in many a year, a jazz Instrumental charged onto the "charts" of biggest-selling records compiled by the key weekly publications of the music business: Billboard and The Cash Box. In an era when it is customary to bemoan the absence of anything other than superficial gimmicks and noise on the popular music scene, it was particularly startling to see a disc bearing the name of a top-ranked jazz artist moving up towards the top end of the lists of the nation's hits, and to hear the powerful big-band beat of African Waltz sharing radio time across the country with the latest efforts of Presley, Darin, Connie Francis and all those brand-new groups whose names we didn't quite catch.

Now this very different kind of waltz makes its Initial appearance in album form, as part of a most

impressive array of rich and rousing big-band arrangements, each conveying that same distinctive feeling of foot-stomping excitement and urgency.

These recordings represent Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's first venture into the big-band area. But the combination of swinging, earthy jazz and widespread popular appeal is nothing new for the number-one alto sax star. Ever since the Fall of 1959, when he left his featured spot with Miles Davis group to form his own quintet, Cannonball has met with a most gratifying series of successes. His group's first album, "The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco," which included Bobby Timmons' memorable soul-tune, This Here, was an immediate and overwhelming hit. The quintet-which co-features the cornet of Cannonball's brother Nat, who can also be heard on this LP-has gone on to produce two other best-selling albums to date. It has played to enthusiastic and overflowing crowds in clubs and at concerts from, for examples, New York to Los Angeles and Boston to Dallas, and has made two thoroughly triumphant European tours.

Much of the credit for the unusual and rich-textured sound of this album must go to Ernie Wilkins, one of the very best of today's arrangers, whose credits include many scores featured by the orchestras of Count Basie, Quincy Jones and Harry James, among others. African Waltz and seven more here are his work, with Bobby Brookmeyer responsible for the others.

Fittingly enough, the composer credits on this album are also highlighted by the names of some of the brightest young artists on today's jazz scene, men like Nat Adderley, poll-winning guitarist Wes Montgomery, and pianists Wynton Kelly and Junior Mance. A number such as Quincy Jones' Stockholm Sweet'nin' is well on its way to becoming a jazz standard, and several of the other, newer tunes here are not going to be far behind.

Back in its good-old-days in New Orleans early In this century, jazz was unquestionably a thoroughly "popular" music. In the Swing Era of the 1930s, the widely acclaimed bands of Benny Goodman, Artle Shaw, Glenn Miller and the like produced many of the biggest hits of the day. It may well be that the stage is again set for the re-emergence of jazz into the spotlight of full-scale public acceptance. If that Is to be the case, this album-with Cannonball's Inventive, swinging and soulful alto soaring over the brilliant sound of the full band--is certainly an excellent way to celebrate that return and to get it under way.

ORRIN KEEPNEWS