"Most of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet's best-known recordings were recorded live, or pretended to be. This, the Quintet's 2nd album, is an exception. As a result, it doesn't match the hot intensity of their best live recordings. That said, it has its own charms.
It took a while for the group to settle on a pianist - Bobby Timmons lasted for only one-and-a-half albums, and is replaced by bebop specialist Barry Harris on four tracks.
The album is best known for Nat Adderley's "Work Song" and Timmons's "Dat Dere". "Work Song" gets a nice runthrough here, but is a pale shadow of later live versions. It's also worth highlighting Duke Pearson's "Jeannine", one of the best performances on this album.
In general I favor this group's live work, but upon revisiting Them Dirty Blues I found it to be very enjoyable. Recommended!"
Prime material, prime performances
James A. Vedda | Alexandria, VA USA | 05/18/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All the feeling of a live gig is conveyed in this 1960 studio recording, thanks to expressive performances by the whole quintet. You'd be hard pressed to find a better jazz CD at this price (at this writing, $7.97).
There's never been any doubt about Cannonball's mastery of the blues, ably demonstrated here on the title track and on "Dat Dere." But he could also swing ("Del Sasser" and "Soon") and brilliantly interpret ballads ("Easy Living" will be his most memorable performance of this set for many listeners). Whatever the style, his improvisational ideas were musically interesting, even during passages that showed off his impressive technique.
One of the best characteristics of the Adderley brothers' quintets of this era was the ensemble sound they created, combining harmony and counterpoint with clever licks that elevated the group beyond merely soloists taking turns. The freedom and agility of a small group along with the discipline usually associated with a big band made for a great combination."
Cannonball stands alone
Geronimo | Half Moon Bay | 07/29/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a musician from Florida, been playing since before this album was new. The Adderley brothers, graduates of the great music program at Florida A&M University, have a reputation in their home state that resonates to this day.
Cannonball demonstrates here that a 12-bar blues gives you all you need to play brilliant stuff. I think every rock guitar hero and wannabe should have to go back to the woodshed until they can play at least four of Cannon's choruses from this album, note for note. That alone would raise the quality of rock music a couple orders of magnitude. Intensity, faithfulness to the blues idiom, wit, humor, great tone and a conversational, storytelling style. Sure, the tunes are substantial and challenging, and the arrangements are sophisticated stuff. But it's the solos that are truly brilliant, uplifting music, which musicians should study humbly for decades to come."
Anyone Would Be Crazy To Give This Recording Less Than 5-sta
J. Rich | 12/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Cannonball Adderley, who will probably always be remembered for his role opposite of John Coltrane on Miles Davis' classic 1959 recording "Kind Of Blue," many people haven't explored his work outside of that album. "Them Dirty Blues" released by Capitol Jazz in 1960 features an all-star group of musicians: Nat Adderley on cornet, Bobby Timmons or Barry Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. This album also features some of three jazz standards, and if their not standards by now then they should be, "Work Song," "Jeannine" and Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere." Anyone interested in getting into Cannonball Adderley's work as a leader should start here. Highly recommended."
Cannonball ran out of tape
Rain Delay | 02/20/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"On the back insert of this CD, Capitol notes:
"There are problems in the available tapes for these sessions, resulting in occasional bass distortion, a shifting of the drum image and other minor problems. Track 6 was evidently dubbed from an LP. Every effort has been made to make the sound as good as possible with existing sources."
These tracks were recorded for the Riverside label in 1960, and Adderley brought them to Capitol in 1963. Using high-quality headphones, I didn't find the bass more "wooly" than is the usual for recordings of this vintage, and the miking of the drums was par for the course as well. Track 6 "Del Sasser" does have some ticks, so it would appear that for some reason its source was an LP. Apparently there was no suitable alternate take.
I give Capitol a thumbs-up for honesty in packaging. Overall, I'd rate the sound of these tracks as pretty good considering they were laid down in 1960: clean and a little warm. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find the alternate takes of "Work Song" and "Dat Dere" compelling, and too often alternate material just pads out an album. But it doesn't do much harm here, either. "Jeannine," which Eddie Jefferson recorded in 1977, and "Work Song" are reasons enough to get "Them Dirty Blues.""