The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Live In Montreal May 1975

The great Julian Cannonball Adderley rose to prominence in the hard-bop era of the 1950's and 60's. After a successful stint with Miles Davis' sextet, including being featured on the seminal Davis records 'Milestones' and 'Kind of Blue', Adderley formed his own quintet with brother Nat on trumpet and cornet, and soon became the driving force behind the soul-jazz movement of the 1960's and 70's. No one would have guessed that the 46-year-old DownBeat Jazz Hall of Famer was in the last few months of his life when he stepped on stage at Montreal's In Concert Club on May 3, 1975. And nothing about the performance suggests that the hard bop sax legend was anything but at the top of his game. The 6-track set includes the Grammy Hall of Fame inductee hit tune Mercy Mercy Mercy, with Adderley's brother Nat on cornet. The lineup for the quintet here is Cannonball Adderley (saxophone); Nat Adderley (cornet); Michael Wollf (piano); Roy McCurdy (drums, percussion) and Walter Booker (bass).