{"id":53226,"date":"2018-08-19T12:21:56","date_gmt":"2018-08-19T16:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=53226"},"modified":"2024-08-07T22:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T02:27:09","slug":"the-cannonball-adderley-omnibook-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/the-cannonball-adderley-omnibook-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cannonball Adderley Omnibook Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today, I am reviewing the Cannonball Adderley Omnibook that is published by Hal Leonard.\u00a0 This great book of transcriptions was created by Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart who also transcribed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/the-sonny-rollins-omnibook-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sonny Rollins Omnibook<\/a> that I reviewed earlier in the year. I bought this book after receiving a gift card from a student of mine. I went online to see what I could get with it and when I saw the title &#8220;Cannonball Adderley Omnibook&#8221;,\u00a0 I clicked on &#8220;Buy Now&#8221; immediately without a second thought as I have been a huge Cannonball fan since I was a kid.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Before I get into the book, let me just say what a force of nature Julian &#8220;Cannonball&#8221; Adderley was.\u00a0 I remember first hearing him on an album I got from the library when I was in high school.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t remember what that album was (Pretty sure it was either &#8220;Somethin&#8217; Else or Live in San Francisco&#8221;) but I remember being blown away by what I heard.\u00a0 Until that point in time, all I had listened to for alto players was Jay Beckenstein, Charlie Parker, Dave Sanborn and Hank Crawford.\u00a0 \u00a0These are all vastly different players with different styles.\u00a0 When I first heard Cannonball I was mesmerized by the fact that he seemed to fuse incredible bebop lines similar to Charlie Parkers with the tough emotive bluesy sounds that I loved in the playing of Dave Sanborn and Hank Crawford.\u00a0 I was in love!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">That being said, for whatever reason I always found Cannonball much harder to understand than many other players I was listening to.\u00a0 Although Charlie Parker blew my mind,\u00a0 I kind of understood what he was doing and thinking harmonically. (Not that I could do it&#8230;&#8230;)\u00a0 With Cannonball there was so many added elements to his solos that it was hard to focus on what he was actually playing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First, there were all these bluesy bends, trills, growls and falls to try to figure out.<\/li>\n<li>Secondly, Cannonball loved to play with the time.\u00a0 One measure he is laying behind the beat and the next he is playing on top of the beat.\u00a0 (I remember trying to transcribe a Cannonball line in high school and for the life of me I could not figure out how to write out the rhythms of it.)<\/li>\n<li>Thirdly, Cannonball&#8217;s articulation and accents were so varied and unpredictable that it was hard for me to figure out what he was articulating and accenting.<\/li>\n<li>Fourthly, Cannonball&#8217;s understanding of harmony was no joke!\u00a0 At times he sounds so bluesy and simple but when you start transcribing the lines you see all sorts of &#8220;genius&#8221; notes being played over the harmony. Although he could play the tar out of the blues scale, Cannonball had total freedom on the changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2018\/CannonOmniFront.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2018\/CannonOmniFront.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Cannonball Adderley Omnibook<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Another thing I remember thinking when I listened to Cannonball, was the authority with which he played.\u00a0 I still think that to this day.\u00a0 When I hear recordings with Miles playing a solo followed by Coltrane, Cannonball then comes in like he owns the place.\u00a0 His tone is clear and fat. His energy is focused and alive.\u00a0 There is an electricity in his sound and playing that is unique to &#8220;Cannonball&#8221; in my mind.\u00a0 I couldn&#8217;t wait to dig into this transcription book!!<\/p>\n<p>The Cannonball Adderley Omnibook is created with the same standard of excellence as the other Hal Leonard Omnibooks.\u00a0 It is coil bound so it is easy to open on a music stand and it stays open and flat when you are reading from it.\u00a0 The coils are big enough that it is easy to change the pages quickly on the fly.\u00a0 The book is\u00a0 264 pages long and has 49 solos in it.\u00a0 Here is the complete list:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Cannonball Adderley Omnibook Song List<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 12px; background-color: #f0b646; line-height: 1.4;\">Ah-Leu-Cha, Azule Serape, Batida Diferente, Blue Funk, Cannonball, Country Preacher, Del Sasser, Easy To Love (You&#8217;d Be So Easy To Love) (from BORN TO DANCE), Fiddler On The Roof (from the Musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Groovy Samba, Hi-Fly, Hoppin\u2019 John, Hurricane Connie, I Remember You (from the Paramount Picture THE FLEET&#8217;S IN), I&#8217;m On My Way, Introduction To A Samba, Jeannine, Love For Sale (from THE NEW YORKERS), Marabi, Milestones, Minority, Oleo, On Green Dolphin Street, Once I Loved (Amor Em Paz) (Love In Peace), One For Daddy-O, People Will Say We&#8217;re In Love (from OKLAHOMA!), Poor Butterfly, Porky, Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado), Rumple Stiltskin, Sack Of Woe, Scotch and Water, Seventy Four Miles Away (74 Miles Away), So What, Somethin\u2019 Else, Spectacular, Spontaneous Combustion, Stardust, Straight No Chaser, The Theme (The Scene), Things Are Getting Better, This Here, Toy, Unit 7, Waltz For Debby, What Is This Thing Called Love? (from WAKE UP AND DREAM), Who Cares? (So Long As You Care For Me) (from OF THEE I SING), Work Song, You Got It<\/div>\n<p><em>*I will add that sometimes you have to do some searching and research to find each version of these songs.\u00a0 Most of them can be found on Youtube.\u00a0 One example is &#8220;You Got It&#8221; which is from the 1959 recording &#8220;The Quintet in San Francisco&#8221;.\u00a0 \u00a0I have that album but when I played &#8220;You Got It&#8221; the solo was different.\u00a0 I was a bit confused but when I started searching Youtube,\u00a0 I found out that there were alternate takes of this song.\u00a0 The transcription doesn&#8217;t say it is an alternate take however.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2018\/CannonOmniBack.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2018\/CannonOmniBack.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Cannonball Adderley Omnibook<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The first thing I noticed about the Cannonball Adderly Omnibook is that Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart went above and beyond in the details included in these transcriptions.\u00a0 In many of the transcriptions, there are trumpet lines by Miles included, piano lines (many with the voicing written out), bass cues, three part harmony lines when there are three parts in the melody such as when Cannonball is playing with Miles and Coltrane.\u00a0 During the rests it tells you what instrument is soloing or if there is trading fours with drums going on.\u00a0 All of these specifics make it so much easier to find where you are in the transcriptions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Another great feature is that the tunes are included on every transcription.\u00a0 Many transcriptions these days only include the solos because of copyright limitations but Hal Leonard has included these great melodies and written them out in detail.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There are a ton of articulation markings throughout each solo to help with how to play these solos like Cannonball.\u00a0 As I look through the book I see all sorts of, slurs, accents, staccato markings, ghost notes, grace notes, scooped notes, etc&#8230;&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It is also obvious that Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart did not just fill in the known chords of each tune over the transcriptions but added the details of the chords even when there were alterations or substitutions.\u00a0 You can easily see this as you look through each tune and compare the chords of each chorus. Many times there are differences in each chorus as you compare chords.\u00a0 This is a cool feature for those of us interested in the harmonies going on behind these solos.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I&#8217;ve read a few reviews online that seemed pretty hard on this book. They were basically complaining that there were too many details included in the book and it makes it harder to read.\u00a0 Although I can understand that opinion, I also think it is cool to see all these added details.\u00a0 To see the harmony lines written in that Miles played might make it a little harder to read but how cool is it to see Miles&#8217;s line written out in the music over the alto sax line?\u00a0 All the accents, bends, slurs, falls, etc&#8230;..make it harder to read but the transcriber is trying to accurately capture what he is hearing Cannonball playing on the recordings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The bottom line is that what Cannonball is playing is hard!\u00a0 If you take a look through the book, most of the solos are at 200+ tempos.\u00a0 Cannonball is playing fast with all sorts of articulations, rhythms, bends, falls, scoops, etc&#8230;&#8230;..It&#8217;s not easy to capture all of these details on a transcription.\u00a0 I for one, am glad Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart has attempted to capture as much as he has on these pages.<\/p>\n<p>The one element of the book layout that I wish was different,\u00a0 is that the key signature is only on the first line of each page.\u00a0 I understand why this was done for the sake of giving more space to the notes, but when I was reading the transcription many times I would forget the key signature, look at the beginning of the line and think it was in C.\u00a0 I would then remember that the key signature is at the top of the page and have to look up there.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not a big deal but just something I have to remember when reading the music.<\/p>\n<p>There is so much more I could write about,\u00a0 I truly am in love with Cannonball&#8217;s playing and what is captured on these pages in this book!\u00a0 It is just a plethora of incredible bop lines, licks, phrasings and melodic ideas that can be worked on for a lifetime.\u00a0 Amazing work by Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart!!\u00a0 I would have loved to have this book on my stand next to the Charlie Parker Omnibook when I was a kid!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Great job by Hal Leonard in creating another great Omnibook in their collection that includes John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Pass, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and now Cannonball Adderley. \u00a0You can get the book from Amazon at the links below.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ad3Ikx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cannonball Adderley Omnibook-Eb Instruments<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3yvsEDs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cannonball Adderley Omnibook-Bb Instruments<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3LYsmYO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cannonball Adderley Omnibook-C Instruments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you end up getting the Cannonball Adderley Omnibook\u00a0please feel free to come back and share your thoughts and comments with\u00a0all of us below. \u00a0If you have other thoughts about Cannonball, I would love to hear them also.\u00a0 Thank you to Cannonball Adderley for who you were and your amazing contribution to this music.\u00a0 \u00a0Now, I&#8217;m going to work on the &#8220;Spontaneous Combustion&#8221; and &#8220;Stardust&#8221; solos a bit&#8230;&#8230;..\u00a0 \u00a0Thanks,\u00a0 \u00a0Steve<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 12px; background-color: #f0b646; line-height: 1.4;\">Disclosure: Hal Leonard did not send me this book to review but I purchased it with a gift card that I received from a student of mine.\u00a0If you purchase the book from any of the Amazon links above I will make a small commission that I will use to support this site. Regardless, I only review saxophone related products that I enjoy and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, I am reviewing the Cannonball Adderley Omnibook that is published by Hal Leonard.\u00a0 This great book of transcriptions was created by Chris &#8220;Doc&#8221; Stewart who also transcribed the Sonny Rollins Omnibook that I reviewed earlier in the year. I bought this book after receiving a gift card from a student of mine. I went [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":53228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1769,297,20,1770,1184,306,658],"class_list":{"0":"post-53226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-book-reviews","8":"tag-alto-sax-solos","9":"tag-alto-saxophone","10":"tag-cannonball-adderley","11":"tag-chris-doc-stewart","12":"tag-hal-leonard","13":"tag-omnibook","14":"tag-review","15":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}