Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

This past May I went to a production of Fiddler On The Roof performed at the amphitheater atop Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.

While riding the bus en route to the mountaintop, I was flooded with memories of my middle school teachers bringing their original Broadway cast LPs of musicals and having to sing along to the songs of with my classmates. This scholastic torture took place during the early- to mid-1960s; to this day, I usually cringe when someone mentions Mary Poppins, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and, of course, Fiddler. Not because of the songs (OK, some of the songs were lame then and continue to be lame now), but due to being force-fed something that was not written by Lennon and McCartney. It seems to be a generational thing. Tradition.

?Tradition? is the opening song of [tag]Fiddler On The Roof[/tag]. By the time it was halfway finished at Mt. Tam’s amphitheater, I was hooked. I truly enjoyed the play and the music. It inspired me to add its soundtrack to my collection. Not the original Broadway or film cast, though: I wanted the one by [tag]Cannonball Adderly[/tag].

I have always admired Cannonball Adderley?s music. The emotional content in his sound seemed genuine; whether joy, sorrow, or all points in between, nothing seemed forced or false. I always considered the calling card of his sound to be the joy of living. He could get that message out with one note.

Fiddler On The Roof is filled with songs tailor-made for a musician whose playing reflects the joy of living. One of them, for example, is ?To Life.? Cannonball and his bandmates cover that one and seven others on the original 1964 Capitol Records LP [tag]Cannonball Adderly?s Fiddler On The Roof[/tag].

This recording features one of the great jazz bands of the 1960s: Cannonball on alto sax, his brother Nat on cornet and trumpet, Joe Zawinul on piano, Charles Lloyd on tenor sax and flute, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums.

This band was able to take the main themes of these soon-to-be classic songs (Cannonball?s versions were recorded a month after the play opened on Broadway), state each one?s unmistakable melody line, improvise outstanding solos from these basic foundations, and put some swing into Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick?s original ideas.

Whether Nat?s brass, Lloyd?s surprisingly warm flute (I was only familiar with his sax work before hearing this recording), the rhythm section, and the leader?s sermons on alto, all of this music is truly inspirational, beautiful, and worth adding to anyone?s collection. I wish one of my above-mentioned teachers would have played this LP instead of the usual afternoons with Julie Andrews: I think my classmates and I would have enjoyed the sound of THIS music a lot more.

The remastered and reissued CD of Cannonball Adderley?s Fiddler On The Roof also contains an additional four songs, which were recorded a month prior to the ?Fiddler? sessions. Two of them were written by Lloyd, one by Nat Adderley, and the fourth was by noted composer Andre Previn and soon-to-be wife Dory Langdon for a Tony Curtis film. Although not necessary, all four tunes fit well with the original release.

If I were a rich man, I would give copies of this CD to all of my family and friends. It?s that good. It?s Cannonball.

To order this CD, visit www.barnesandnoble.com or try used CD websites like www.half.ebay.com. The used jazz CD bins of one?s favorite record store are another good source, since this CD is not always in stock, due to most stores? choices of artists? catalog recordings to sell with new releases. There is only so much room in a store.

There are also so many stores: subtract Tower Records from the list, as they will be out of business very soon. Sunrise, sunset.

Charles Lloyd will be performing with drummer Eric Harland and Marin County?s master tabla player Zakir Hussain on November 3 as part of this year?s San Francisco Jazz Festival. Visit www.sfjazz.org for additional information.

[tags]cd review[/tags]

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