Alabama Concerto
title: "Alabama Concerto" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1958-albums", "riverside-records-albums", "cannonball-adderley-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Concerto" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Alabama Concerto |
| type | Album |
| artist | John Benson Brooks featuring Cannonball Adderley and Art Farmer |
| cover | Alabama Concerto.jpg |
| released | 1958 |
| recorded | July 28 & 31 and August 25, 1958 |
| Reeves Sound Studio, New York City | |
| genre | Jazz |
| length | 42:27 |
| label | Riverside |
| RLP 12-276 | |
| chronology | John Benson Brooks |
| prev_title | Folk Jazz USA |
| prev_year | 1956 |
| next_title | Avant Slant |
| next_year | 1968 |
| misc | {{Extra chronology |
| artist | Cannonball Adderley |
| type | studio album |
| prev_title | Somethin' Else |
| prev_year | 1958 |
| title | Alabama Concerto |
| year | 1958 |
| next_title | Jump for Joy |
| next_year | 1958 |
| :: |
| name = Alabama Concerto | type = Album | artist = John Benson Brooks featuring Cannonball Adderley and Art Farmer | cover = Alabama Concerto.jpg|border=yes | alt = | released = 1958 | recorded = July 28 & 31 and August 25, 1958 Reeves Sound Studio, New York City | venue = | studio = | genre = Jazz | length = 42:27 | label = Riverside RLP 12-276 | producer = | chronology = John Benson Brooks | prev_title = Folk Jazz USA | prev_year = 1956 | next_title = Avant Slant | next_year = 1968 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Cannonball Adderley | type = studio album | prev_title = Somethin' Else | prev_year = 1958 | title = Alabama Concerto | year = 1958 | next_title = Jump for Joy | next_year = 1958
Alabama Concerto is an album by composer John Benson Brooks featuring saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and trumpeter Art Farmer; it was released on the Riverside label in 1958. For Brooks, it was "an outgrowth of an assignment he had [...] to transcribe for a book some folk recordings made in Alabama by Harold Courlander"; these contrasted with New Orleans jazz recordings, causing Brooks to consider an alternative influence on the history of jazz.
Reception
| rev1 = Allmusic | rev1Score =
Critic John S. Wilson, in a contemporaneous review, observed of the composer: "Working from several rural folk themes, he develops his Concerto through ensembles, written solos and improvised solos played by a quartet". Concluding in a negative vein, Wilson stated that the album "lacks movement and explicit development [...] the work becomes lost in monotony long before the two full LP sides have been completed." The Allmusic site awarded the album 3 stars with the review by Scott Yanow stating, "Although not essential, the music is thought-provoking, quite melodic, and looks backwards toward folk music of the 1800s while giving the pieces a 1950s jazz sensibility".
Track listing
All compositions by John Benson Brooks
- First Movement: THEMES: "The Henry John Story" / "Green, Green Rocky Road" / "Job's Red Wagon" - 4:49
- First Movement: "The Henry John Story (return)" / "Green, Green Rocky Road (return)" - 3:17
- First Movement: "Job's Red Wagon (return)" - 3:07
- Second Movement: THEMES: "Trampin'" / "The Loop" / "Trampin' (return)" - 7:54
- Second Movement: "The Loop (return)" - 2:25
- Third Movement: THEME: "Little John Shoes" - 3:09
- Third Movement: THEME: "Milord's Calling" / "Little John Shoes (return)" / "Milord's Callin' (return)" - 5:06
- Fourth Movement: THEMES: "Blues for Christmas" / "Rufus Playboy" / "Grandma's Coffin" / "Blues for Christmas (return)" - 7:33
- Fourth Movement: "Grandma's Coffin (return)" / "Rufus Playboy (return)" / "Grandma's Coffin (2nd return)" - 5:07
Personnel
- John Benson Brooks - piano, arranger
- Cannonball Adderley - alto saxophone
- Art Farmer - trumpet
- Barry Galbraith - guitar
- Milt Hinton - bass
References
References
- [http://www.jazzdisco.org/cannonball-adderley/catalog/#riverside-rlp-12-276 Cannonball Adderley discography] accessed October 29, 2012.
- Wilson, John S. (1959) ''The Collector's Jazz: Modern''. J. B. Lippincott.
- Yanow, S. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/alabama-concerto-mw0000966725 Allmusic Review] accessed October 29, 2012
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