Mercy Mercy Mercy - Cannonball Adderley (1967)
Besides blathering on about my own favorite music, I consume a ton of content about other people’s favorite music. This week, I’m taking some advice. This one was recommended in Youtuber Kenny’s Top 5 Jazz-Funk Jazz-Soul Record Albums
Cannonball Adderley and his brother, Nate, are maybe the most under-appreciated of the classic jazz guys. Both feature on a litany of 50s and 60s records, as well as recording in Cannonball’s own band. That band also included Pianist Joe Zawinul, who would play on some of same Miles Davis records as Cannonball as well as Nat’s bandleader dates.
Despite the name, this was not recorded at The Club (a revival of a popular former Chicago jazz club that probably could have done with a less ambiguous name). Also it was only “live” in the sense that a hand-picked small audience was in the LA studio when it was recorded. Cannonball was trying to help out a friend who’d recently opened The Club.
Both Adderleys feature on horns here, and a good time is had by all.
Mercy Mercy Mercy is a Zawinul composition that is an obvious precursor to Birdland, the massive melodic fusion hit of his subsequent band Weather Report.
