Regrettably, I never saw Bird in person, but I was most fortunate enough to witness Cannonball on a number of occasions and, hand on heart, I was never disappointed with either his playing or communication skills. Truly a joy to behold. As I've stated previously, what's not to like about Cannonball Adderley? Though he cut many fine studio albums, it was in front of an appreciative audience that his prowess was fully realised. It must be emphasised that it was never Cannonball and a bunch of backing musicians for, as these 1962 performances confirm, it was a fully-integrated unit. While he made excellent choices when it came to pianists (Mance, Timmons, Feldman, Duke etc) brother Nat's contributions proved just as crucial.

No weak link there, for not only did he compose the group's hits ‘Work Song’ and ‘The Jive Samba’, but his first-rate work on cornet demonstrated that he wasn't overshadowed by his brother.

The later addition of a frontline horn in the form of Yusef Lateef (later replaced by Charles Lloyd) added further muscle to an already tight ensemble. To three original Riverside releases, namely, In New York, Jazz Workshop Revisited and In Europe, the compilers have added six Jazz Scene USA TV performances, plus another six assorted airshots from Birdland.

Part of this 4CD set's selling point is obviously the presence of Joe Zawinul, who followed the still underappreciated Victor Feldman as the group's pianist. At the time of these 1962 recordings Cannonball's Crew hammered home the truth that along with The Jazz Messengers and Horace Silver's Quintet, our man from Florida generated a combination of both genuine goodwill and sheer excitement. That said, by way of a bonus, three August 1960 Birdland airshots by the Quintet, minus Lateef and including Feldman, work their magic on ‘Stay On It’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Dis’ Here’.