One of the lesser sessions from
Cannonball Adderley's days with
Capitol,
Domination features arrangements by
Oliver Nelson and
William Fischer. Recorded in April of 1965, the compositions aren't especially engaging;
soul-jazz and
hard bop of the period are replaced by a combination of background music, at times sounding like something recorded for a '60s detective television program, with light
bossa nova fare and orchestrated
easy pop. This is quite a shame considering
Joe Zawinul,
J.J. Johnson,
Clark Terry, and
Phil Woods certainly aren't used to their full potential, not to mention
Cannonball and brother
Nat Adderley. The bonus track,
"Experience in E," sounds jarringly out of place in this context, but is nevertheless what makes this reissue interesting. Recorded in 1970 and originally issued on
Cannonball Adderley Quintet & Orchestra, this track clocks in at 20 minutes and is the antithesis of the preceding eight compositions. The initial section of the piece finds
Cannonball making leaping advances toward the
avant-garde with drummer
Roy McCurdy egging him on, reminiscent of
Coltrane and
Elvin Jones. By the second section, the remaining quintet (
Nat Adderley cornet,
Walter Booker bass, and
Joe Zawinul electric piano) have begun to weave in and out, uniting modern
classical composition and
funk! Adventurous listeners will want this for the bonus track alone. ~ Al Campbell
