Cannonball Adderley
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Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 - August 8, 1975), originally from Tampa, Florida, was a jazz alto saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s.
The nickname "Cannonball" was a childhood nickname for the portly saxophonist. An articulate speaker with an easy manner, Cannonball educated, amused, and informed his audiences in clubs and on television about the art and moods of jazz (he was a music teacher before beginning his jazz career).
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[edit] An educator and a saxophonist
His professional career was long established prior to teaching applied instrumental music classes at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Cannonball was a local legend in Florida until he moved to New York City in 1955.
He joined the Miles Davis sextet in 1957, around the time that John Coltrane left the group to join Thelonious Monk's band. (Coltrane would return to Davis's group in 1958). Adderley played on the seminal Davis records Milestones and Kind of Blue. Davis had this to say of Adderley's style: "He had a certain spirit. You couldn't put your finger on it, but it was there in his playing every night."
[edit] A band leader
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet featured Cannonball on alto sax and his brother Nat Adderley on cornet. Adderley's first quintet was not very successful. However, after leaving Davis' group, he reformed another, again with his brother, which enjoyed more success.
The new quintet (which later became the Cannonball Adderley Sextet), and Cannonball's other combos and groups, included such noted musicians as:
- pianists Bobby Timmons, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul (later of Weather Report), and George Duke
- bassists Sam Jones, Walter Booker and Victor Gaskin
- drummers Louis Hayes and Roy McCurdy
- saxophonists Charles Lloyd and Yusef Lateef.
The sextet was noteworthy towards the end of the 1960s for achieving crossover success with pop audiences, but doing it without making artistic concessions.
[edit] Avant-garde movement
By the end of 1960s, Adderley's playing began to reflect the influence of the electric jazz avant-garde, and Miles Davis' experiments on the radical album Bitches Brew. On his albums from this period, such as The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free, he began doubling on soprano saxophone, showing the influence of John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.
Adderley died of a stroke in 1975. He was buried in the Southside Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida. Joe Zawinul's composition "Cannon Ball" (recorded on Weather Report's album Black Market) is a tribute to his former leader.
Songs made famous by Adderley and his bands include 'This Here' (written by Bobby Timmons), 'The Jive Samba', 'Work Song' (written by Nat Adderley), 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' (written by Joe Zawinul) and 'Walk Tall' (written by Zawinul, Marrow and Rein).
Adderley was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans (made Beta Nu chapter, Florida A&M University). [1]
Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones named both of his sons Julian, allegedly in honor of Adderley.
[edit] Selected discography
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- As a leader
- Somethin' Else (1958) - with Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones, Art Blakey
- Things Are Getting Better (1958)
- Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago (1959) - with John Coltrane
- Quintet in San Francisco (1959)
- Cannonball and Coltrane (1959)
- At the Lighthouse (1960)
- Them Dirty Blues (1960)
- Know What I Mean? (1961) - with Bill Evans
- African Waltz (1961)
- The Quintet Plus (1961)
- Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (1961)
- In New York (1962)
- Cannonball's Bossa Nova (1962)
- Jazz Workshop Revisited (1963)
- Nippon Soul (1963)
- Domination (1965) - Orchestrated and arranged by Oliver Nelson
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' (1966)
- Why Am I Treated So Bad! (1967)
- 74 Miles Away (1967)
- Radio Nights (1967)
- Accent On Africa (1968)
- Country Preacher (1969)
- The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free (1970)
- The Black Messiah (Live) (1972)
- Inside Straight (1973)
- Pyramid (1974)
- Phenix (1975)
- with Miles Davis
- Milestones (1958)
- Miles & Monk at Newport (1958) (Monk performance is separate from Davis and Adderley performance)
- Jazz at the Plaza (1958)
- Porgy and Bess (1958)
- Kind of Blue (1959)
