4. Miles Davis: “All Blues” (Kind of Blue; Columbia, 1959)

You don’t get to play on the most famous, acclaimed, beloved album in jazz history and not have it talked about in surveys like this one. “All Blues,” in particular, is a track on which Adderley deserves more attention. He had the burden of following an iconic Miles Davis solo. But when it’s Cannon’s turn, he more than anyone shows an understanding of the song’s traipsing 6/8 groove; while Davis, Coltrane, and Evans all strain against the time, he sticks wholeheartedly to it, using it to explore lyrical possibilities and to unearth rhythmic potentials hidden within the 6/8 itself. There’s even a subtle reference to Duke Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”—perhaps a nod to Adderley’s beloved Johnny Hodges—that is one of the many rewards of a deep listen to Cannon’s improv here.