This 1990 session found
Nat Adderley looking backwards, entering a New York studio with a quintet of the same proportions as
Cannonball Adderley's famous groups, some alumni in the rhythm section (
Walter Booker on bass,
Jimmy Cobb on drums), and straight-and-narrow hard bop on the menu. But
Nat is not the crisp, confident cornetist of old; he sounds a bit lost on muted horn in an extended stretch of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and sputters on some other tracks, occasionally mustering enough of his optimistic, upward-looking phrasing to give his work a signature. Altoist
Vincent Herring has a more forceful presence on the front line, his raw, hard tone and rhythmic sense not resembling
Cannonball's in the least, while
Rob Bargad offers competent mainstream piano. As a composer,
Adderley chips in two worthy pieces; "Talkin' About You, Cannon" is a leisurely gospel-soul-jazz drenched thing, and "Plum Street" is an energetic bopper. The veterans in the rhythm section are just fine -- no frills, nothing fancy, qualities that defined
Nat's music at the time. ~ Richard S. Ginell