Jive Samba

Cannonball's brother, Nat, wrote a funky piece that lives up to it's title, "Jive Samba." As the name would suggest, it's funky, drenched in blues, and set to a samba rhythm which was such a craze in the 1960s. Also, one can see how Cannonball Adderley, like other soul jazz-oriented artists of the 1960s, aimed at African-American audiences who were turning to funk and soul instead of the jazz of their parents. Recorded concerts at clubs and various venues, from San Francisco to Chicago, show lively interaction and entrenched African-American vernacular English, as well as popular culture, gospel traditions, and a general atmosphere of fun and joviality. This is the type of relaxed, crowd-pleasing jazz, giving the people the kind of music they wanted to hear: funky, gospel-tinged, bluesy, and, at times, a crossover pop hit. Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder was a surprise hit, as well as some of the songs Cannonball recorded in the 1960s: "African Waltz" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," each one funky in its own way yet still jazz. "Jive Samba" encapsulates 1960s Adderley, paying tribute to jazz's roots, new trends in African-American and mainstream music (rock, funk, soul), and, at the same time, ambitious, with soulful, at times honking solos from Adderley that reach majestic heights. The simple piano vamp that builds the song, just a few chords, is nonetheless allows some freedom for the instrumentalists to stretch out, playing blues lines while also retaining the samba-like feel throughout the song and, at times, almost a gospel-like clap in the rhythms, transporting one to a funky church service with some Cuban and Brazilian flavor.

Some versions incorporate Cuban-derived melodic lines, especially Yusef Lateef's solo, which alone makes the song worthy of listen since any one who recognizes the flute melody in "Soul Bossa Nova," a hit by Quincy Jones will appreciate it. The Cuban ostinato is particularly evident during Adderley's solo on a version of the tune from a live show in 1963. Thus, this song not only remains indebted to the bossa nova craze and blues, but Latin soul, boogaloo, and Cuban mambo/son music that inspires a typical Cuban improvisational flute solo. Moreover, the song's conclusion on the emphasized piano chords builds tension perfectly before the horns lower the heat on this stew of a jam. The crowd response in live recordings also contributes to a priceless recording, which can be best heard on the version from Jazz Workshop Revisited in a San Francisco club, where audience members (or perhaps Adderley himself or other bandmates?) say, "All right" and encourage each other. Interestingly, while this fusion of bossa nova with African-American soul and R&B was taking place, some Brazilian popular artists were incorporating rock, soul and funk into their repertoire, as a quick listen to Jorge Ben, Os Mutantes, or Wilson Simonal will illustrate. What we have here is cross-Atlantic musical exchanges: jazz to samba to create bossa nova, blues and soul with jazz, and Cuban and Puerto Rican influences in the ostinato melody.