Poppin' in Paris: Live at L'Olympia 1972
is the second
Cannonball Adderley Quintet
volume from producer
Zev Feldman
on
Elemental Music
, prepared with the
Adderley
estate for Record Store Day 2024. The lineup differs from its companion album
Burnin' in Bordeaux: Live in Paris 1969
. Pianist
Joe Zawinul
left to form
Weather Report
and was replaced by American pianist
George Duke
, known then for a series of excellent albums on Germany's
MPS
and recorded collaborations with
Gerald Wilson
,
Jean Luc Ponty
, and
Frank Zappa
. Bassist
Walter Booker
(
Hank Mobley
Lee Morgan
) joined in 1969, and stayed through
Cannonball
's death in 1976. He worked with
Nat Adderley
through 1990.
Roy McCurdy
returns on drums and cornetist
Nat
is the altoist's brass foil.
The music here is a step removed from the rootsier presentation of the 1969 volume. Set-opener "Black Messiah" is the title track of a 1972 double album.
Duke
's acoustic piano solo is intimate, spacious, and inquiring. He ratchets tension and tempo, expanding the tune's harmonic reach. He switches to electric piano and the phrasing in his solo is denser, more arpeggiatic. The horns state the head about halfway through.
's elegant chords and lithe accents whisper under
's solo as the quintet widely explores dynamic, drama, harmony, space, and interplay. They bring this spirit to the standard "Autumn Leaves."
's solo leaves the entire notion of the ballad in the dust. He,
McCurdy
revel in sprint tempos. His skeins of notes are lyrical but dense, too.
's solo is more inside but with
as foil, he reaches for the upper register and stays there.
Booker
's "Soli Tomba" is a duet for arco bass and piano. It's modal, mysterious, and lullaby-esque. "Walk Tall" is a funky, fingerpopping groover led by
and the horns. Its gospel overtones prove transcendent -- even when
employs a wah-wah pedal on his Rhodes. The second set commences with a 20-minute exploration of
Zawinul
's
Herbie Hancock
homage "Doctor Honoris Causa."
's deft upper register solo on acoustic piano buoys the seamless placement of the theme in this arrangement, framing
's gorgeous, snaky, soprano sax solo.
's "Hummin'" brings funky soul-jazz to the fore. It's gritty, blue, raw, and swaggering --
doesn't hold back on his killer solo. They follow with
's "Directions," delivered as furious post-bop and abstract fusion with
's alto and
's bass exploding into the stratosphere. After they emerge from that righteous jam, they whisper gospelized soul-jazz on a brief yet potent version of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" with
's inimitable Rhodes framing the band before they get to "The Scene."
Poppin' in Paris
may be shorter and dirtier than
Burnin' in Bordeaux
, but it is not less enjoyable. The remastered sound is excellent and the package contains rare photos, a liner essay by
Bob Blumenthal
, and reminiscences by
Vincent Herring
Tia Fuller
. This set is indispensable for any fan of the
Adderleys
and funky, early-'70s jazz. ~ Thom Jurek