The music on
African Waltz is better than it should be.
Cannonball Adderley had a fluke hit with "African Waltz," so a full album was recorded with the hopes of coming up with additional hits. These 11 selections (which include "African Waltz") feature altoist
Adderley backed by an 18-piece big band with arrangements provided by
Ernie Wilkins and
Bob Brookmeyer. The tunes clock in between two and five minutes and leave little room for much improvising by anyone other than
Cannonball, his brother
Nat on cornet, and pianist
Wynton Kelly. There is some strong material on the set (including "West Coast Blues," "Stockholm Sweetnin'" and a remake of "This Here"), but the results are not too substantial and this was not that big a seller but it is still a reasonably enjoyable effort.