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 1928 - 1975
Jazz alto saxophonist. Born Julian Edwin Adderley, on September 9, 1928, in Tampa, Florida. From his earliest appearance on the New York jazz scene in 1955, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley remained at the forefront of the jazz world. His blues- based tone, Charlie Parker-inspired modernist concepts, and African American religious themes helped to define several of the jazz trends of the postwar era. Paired with the tenor saxophone of John Coltrane in Miles Davis's quintet during the late 1950s, Adderley emerged as a major exponent of hard bop, or what became known as soul jazz. As leader of his own group, Adderley landed two top-selling hits in the 1970s.
Adderley took up the saxophone at age 14 and two years later, while completing his high school studies, fronted his own band at professional engagements. Originally nicknamed "Cannibal" by high school friends for his voracious appetite, Adderley's sobriquet later evolved into Cannonball. Attending Florida A&M University, he became proficient on trumpet and numerous reed instruments. In 1948 he began a stint as a teacher at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, a job he held intermittently until 1956.
Drafted into the army in 1950, Sergeant Adderley became leader of the 36th Army Dance Band. Among the members of the 36th Army Band were jazz greats like trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Junior Mance, and Adderley's younger brother Nat, a cornetist. As Nat Adderley recalled in Down Beat, "Cannonball made some arrangement with the General, so basically all we ever played was dance music and we did very little with the marching band. We played with it on some official functions but other than that we worked with the normal big band of jazz groups." Living in Washington, D. C., Adderley studied music at Maryland's U.S. Naval Academy, and from 1952 to 1953 led an army band at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Prompted by jump blues saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Adderley and his brother traveled to New York City in 1955. The unknown Adderley soon sat in with the band of bassist Oscar Pettiford at the popular Greenwich Village club Cafe Bohemia. Allowed to take the stage due to the late arrival of bandmember Jerome Richardson, Adderley underwent a fierce initiation when Pettiford called out a furiously paced version of "I'll Remember April." But Adderley's study of Charlie Parker's alto saxophone solos had prepared him for the challenges of such a breakneck tempo. Following Adderley's performance at the Cafe Bohemia, he signed a contract with the Savoy label and became a regular member of Pettiford's band. Attending the band's performances at the club, Miles Davis often sat and watched the 262-pound alto saxophonist perform. "Everybody knew right away that [Cannonball] was one of the best players around," Davis said in his autobiography, Miles. "Even white critics were raving about his playing. All the record labels were running after him. Man, he was hot that quick."
To the astonishment of many musicians, Adderley returned to his teaching job in the fall of 1955. But rave reviews and an increasing demand for his presence in New York encouraged Adderley to return to the city in 1956 and form his own quintet with his brother Nat, pianist Junior Mance, and bassist Sam Jones. Plagued by financial difficulties, however, the group disbanded in the fall of 1957.
In October of 1957, Adderley replaced Belgian saxophonist Bobby Jaspar in the Miles Davis Quintet. After a few months, Miles hired Adderley and took him on the Jazz for Moderns tour. Soon afterward, Davis expanded his group to a sextet, bringing together the saxophones of Adderley and John Coltrane. As Davis explained in Miles, "I felt that Cannonball's blues-rooted alto sax up against Trane's harmonic, chordal way of playing, his more free-form approach, would create a new kind of feeling."
For two years the saxophones of Adderley and Coltrane, backed by the drums of "Philly" Joe Jones and the bass of Paul Chambers, fueled the creative fire of Davis's group, producing a number of brilliant recordings such as Milestones in 1958 and Kind of Blue in 1959, the latter featuring the jazz classics "So What" and "All Blues." In March of 1958, Davis made a rare guest appearance on Adderley's critically acclaimed solo album Somethin' Else-- a session that also showcased the talents of pianist Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Blakey.
In September of 1959, Adderley left Davis's group to reform his quintet, reuniting Nat and bassist Sam Jones, with pianist Bobby Timmons and drummer Louis Hayes. The quintet played hard bop, and with the popularity of this new sound, Adderley's group achieved instant success. His ensemble attracted a number of first-rate musicians, including Austrian-born pianist Joe Zawinul, who joined the band in September of 1961. The presence of Zawinul in turn enticed saxophonist/flutist Yusef Lateef to join Adderley, which expanded the group to a sextet.
In the liner notes to the 1963 album The Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York, noted jazz producer Orrin Keepnews wrote, "The saga of Cannonball Adderley's band ... has unquestionably been one of the most dazzling success stories in modern jazz history." Unlike many jazz groups of the decade, Adderley's ensemble scored radio hits, with Zawinul's compositions "Mercy Mercy Mercy" in 1967 and "Country Preacher" in 1969. During this time, Adderley also collaborated with singers Nancy Wilson, Lou Rawls, and Sergio Mendes.
Though afflicted by diabetes, Adderley continued to perform live and appear at jazz workshops throughout the 1970s. These seminars consisted of demonstrations and lectures pertaining to both the musical and sociological aspects of jazz. In 1970 Zawinul left the group and was replaced by keyboardist George Duke.
The death of Cannonball Adderley from a stroke on August 8, 1975, ended the career of a brilliant musician who left an indelible mark on the postwar jazz community. During his 20-year career as a nationally known talent, Adderley maintained a remarkable devotion to his music and made great strides in the education and preservation of jazz as an American art form.
© 2001 Gale Group. All rights reserved.
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