Nat Adderley - Little Big Horn! (Riverside, 1963; 1998)

While it probably isn't in the Top Ten lists of any expert jazz critics, Nathaniel "Nat" Adderley's Little Big Horn! remains one of my absolute favorite albums from that particular genre. The outstanding cornetist never received the full amount of respect he deserved due primarily to living under the shadow of his better-known (but, in my opinion, musically less interesting) elder brother, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Nat probably didn't help matters by playing a somewhat obscure instrument, even though I find the cornet's warmer tone to be more sonically pleasing than that of its more popular cousin, the trumpet. And when I talk about cornetists with more knowledgeable jazz record collectors, they almost always seem to state a preference for Don Cherry. Well, to each his or her own.

L TO R: JUNIOR MANCE, NAT ADDERLEY, & KENNY BURRELL

This album is particularly impressive not only because it's an example of mid-1960s jazz at its finest but also because all eight performances were composed or co-composed by Adderley. For this material, he couldn't have chosen a better group of backing musicians: pianist Junior Mance's trio (with a rhythm section of bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Mickey Roker) in addition to alternating guitarists Kenny Burrell and the criminally underrated Jim Hall. A variety of musical moods are achieved on Little Big Horn!, with Nat's strong gospel influence plainly making itself evident on many tracks. Things start swinging from the very start on "El Chico," while the more uptempo "Broadway Lady" sounds like it was cut from a similar jazz fabric. I'm most partial to the really driving numbers such as "Foo Foo," "Half-Time" (check out the mono single edit here) and "Hustle with Russell." Back in the day, jazz fans probably would have sub-categorized such material as what was then referred to as"funk," even though this term would later become more widely applied to the music of James Brown, Sly Stone, P-Funk, and their ilk. As on any five-star jazz album, the more rhythmic tracks are nicely balanced by soothing exercises in mellowness, and "Loneliness," "Little Big Horn," and "Roses for Your Pillow" do the honors here.

JIM HALL

1. El Chico
2. Foo Foo
3. Loneliness
4. Little Big Horn
5. Half-Time
6. Broadway Lady
7. Roses for Your Pillow
8. Hustle with Russell

NAT LOOKING RATHER JOLLY