PHANTOM SWAY

    • Jazz for Nonbelievers: Cannonball Adderly (and his brother Nat) Go to Work

    Julian “Cannonball” Adderly reportedly got his nickname not from being round and explosive but from having a sizable appetite. Guys called him “cannibal” which eventually evolved into the less grisly moniker, Cannonball. Regardless of how he got his name, Adderly is just downright cool.

    Adderly had established himself as a high school band director in Florida until a trip to New York in 1955 got him discovered as a rare saxophone talent. At the Cafe Bohemia he was convinced to sit in with bassist Oscar Pettiford‘s group and soon afterward was signed by Jazz/R&B/Gospel label Savoy Records who also handled artists like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, and even Sun Ra.

    Recording with his quintet that included his brother, cornetist Nat Adderly, Cannonball infused his jazz with a soul and R&B feel that makes tracks like Work Song and others sure to get stuck in your head. As is our mission, the playlist is hand selected for people who claim to be jazz haters. Contemplate it in the Sack O Woe. (That, by the way, was the worst Conan the Barbarian pull ever made and I suspect Phantom Sway’s Jimmie Bise, Jr. may be the only human alive who catches the reference without needing a clue.)

    Maybe having been a music teacher gave Adderly a broader general music background than some jazz artists, leading him to jazzify some very non-jazz music…like selections from the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

    Other tunes like African Waltz combine African rhythms with an almost Henry Mancini-like sytle. (Listen to it and compare it to The Baby Elephant Walk.)

    Pianist and composer Joe Zawinul wrote a tune for Cannonball that you probably know because of the version recorded by Brit-pop group The Buckinghams.

    Here’s a video of the Adderly Quintet performing in Oslo with Joe Zawinul on keys. This show might be a little improv heavy for the nonbelievers but if you were a band geek check out Adderly’s little speech at around 17:54 and tell me he doesn’t sound like a high school band director talking to the audience at a spring concert. The tune Walk Tall that follows with Zawinul on electric piano is also worth a listen as is the Victor Gaskin bass solo at around 10:38. (Watching the whole video will do you good though.)

    Jim Jamitis
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