js Recorded in 1968 when the jazz world was exploding off in a million different directions, “Accent on Africa” is one of Cannonball Adderly’s more unique records. The colorful exotic cover hints that Columbia was shooting for a wider audience than just jazz fans. In particular, the modern jet-setting crowd who were interested in trendy international sounds seem to be the targeted audience here. Although the cover proclaims that this is the Cannonball Adderly Quintet, what we really have here is Cannonball fronting a large African flavored percussion section and a Nelson Riddle influenced big band. Cannonball’s brother Nat is also on hand for some hot cornet playing.

Cannonball draws upon a wide range of African music on here, from West African highlife to South African township and romantic saxophone melodies from Ethiopia, but there is no real attempt to sound scientifically “authentic”, in fact most of the time the percussion section takes on a distinctly Afro-Cuban flavor rather than a sound that is purely African. Likewise, the big band takes liberties with the African sound and often raves it up with huge orchestral colors that sound more like an epic African movie soundtrack than actual field music. The occasional use of wordless vocals pushes this record close to kitschy “exotica” territory, but despite the intentional disregard for musicological authenticity, this record never becomes tacky or embarrassing, Adderly’s musical integrity stays intact for the length of “Accent”.

This record walks a fine line between a late 60s styled exotic international trendiness and serious African influenced jazz. Some jazz and African music fans may be put off by some of this album’s flashy extravagances, but fans of interesting instrumental music will find a gold mine here. Although much of the music on here is African influenced, Cannonball still falls back on his bluesy hard bop for some of the jam sections. The bright groovy 60s style orchestral flourishes are what tie all the elements together. Also, with Cannonball and Nat both in fine form, you can bet there are plenty of hot solos on here.