Cannon Re-Loaded: All Stars Celebration of Cannonball Adderley (2008)

Cannon Re-Loaded is simply that: a collection of tunes closely associated with Cannonball Adderley interpreted by an all-star collection of players on the current scene, with bandleader Tom Scott (who co-produced with Gregg Field) on alto saxophone (an instrument he doesn't play that often anymore), trumpeter Terence Blanchard, pianist George Duke (who was actually a member of the Adderley quintet and who also plays Rhodes and Wurlitzer), drummer Steve Gadd, bassists Marcus Miller and Dave Carpenter, and Larry Goldings on the Hammond B-3. Vocalist Nancy Wilson also guests on a pair of cuts that reprise her performances with Adderley from the Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley set released in 1962. In his liner notes, Scott claims Adderley as a major influence on his own playing, and that what he and his dream band wanted to convey was not only Adderley's brilliance as a musician, but also his sense of humor, one that welcomed the audience in to the music he made.There is no doubt that this quintet gets the tunes right. They open with "Jive Samba," move toward a fast-paced "Work Song," and then of course to "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" before Wilson joins the band for "Save Your Love for Me." The music has plenty of swing and groove, and it's tight. And maybe that's the problem. Adderley's best records (we could all argue forever about which records those were) had a sense of looseness and a vibe inherent in them that is lost on this group — with the exception of Duke, who uses his own sense of humor, percussive flair on the keys, and angular bits here and there to dress these jams up for the bandstand instead of the studio. The sound is so utterly pristine and shiny it contains none of that laid-back approach that made the Adderley groups so enjoyable.

George Benson - Songs and Stories (2009)

George Benson is truly a legend; a guitarist of unparalleled chops and a vocalist with great emotional range and sophistication, and his latest release finds him at his very best! Songs and Stories is a collection of tunes penned by some of the most prolific and enduring songwriters of the last half-century such as James Taylor, Smokey Robinson, Lamont Dozier, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, and several others. The album also includes guest performances by David Paich, Gerald Albright, Lalah Hathaway, Lee Ritenour, Norman Brown, Patti Austin, Steve Lukather, Tom Scott and many more.

Tom Scott - The Very Best Of (2006)

Now well into his fifth decade as a recording artist, Scott’s has made 27 albums as a leader, beginning with Honeysuckle Breeze (at age 19, in 1967) and Rural Still Life (Impulse, 1968) then on to his two L.A. Express classics, Tom Scott and the L.A. Express and Tom Cat (Ode), and several albums for Columbia, Elektra, and Atlantic. Just as his earlier albums were cornerstones of ’60s small-band jazz and then the ’70s fusion movement, Scott’s nine-year tenure with GRP — which is beautifully chronicled on this collection — helped usher in the smooth jazz format.The most fascinating aspect of Scott’s GRP recordings is that each album represents a different facet of Scott’s musical persona. His 1987 label debut Streamlines (represented here by “Amaretto”) and the successive albums Flashpoint (“Lost in Love”), Them Changes (“Chester & Bruce”), Reed My Lips (with the late Grover Washington, Jr.), and Night Creatures (“Anytime, Anyplace,” “Mazin’”) all perfectly capture the balance between Scott’s aggressive, funk edge and his sweetly lyrical side. “Only a Heartbeat” from Keep Your Love Alive harks back to Scott’s session days, when he played supporting roles behind such vocal greats as Diane Schuur, Brenda Russell, and Bill Champlin. The retro effort Bluestreak (“In Your Eyes,” “Only You”) was Scott’s first L.A. Express recording in over 20 years, and Born Again (represented here by the title track), which received rave reviews across the board by jazz purists and critics, brought him back to his bebop roots.