Happy Birthday Work Song Nat Adderley
🍾Nathaniel “Nat” Adderley, born November 25, 1931 in Tampa, Florida, was a jazz cornetist and trumpeter. He was the younger brother of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley with whom he collaborated and performed until Cannonball’s death in 1975.
The Adderley brothers outsized popularity, no doubt, stemmed from their defining taste of soul with a tad of blues and gospel thrown in — they played from the roots of African-American music. Nat’s mean riffs and high octaves rattled your toes and Cannonball with those bold tones just took the music to another level. Cannonball enjoyed success leading the Cannonball Adderley Quartet, of which, Nat was a significant member. Cannonball also play with Miles Davis on the album “Kind of Blue”.
Nat Adderley redefined the coronet as a respectable jazz instrument. His musician predecessors and jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bunk Johnson and Bix Beiderbecke were the first to bring the instrument to the attention of the jazz world — in prior times, it was often viewed as a marching band instrument. His compositions — “Hummin’”, “Jive Samba,” “Old Country,” and “Sermonette” (More popular, it became, after Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics to it.) — are, today, regarded as jazz standards.
Nat was the leader on the brothers debut album “Introducing Nat Adderley” (Wing Records, 1955). On the way to stardom, the quintet featured an all-star cast: pianist Horace Silver, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Roy Haynes. The Adderley brothers co-wrote all but one song “I Should Care” on the ten-track release. This album would be a gem for any jazz collector.
During his career, Nat recorded over 100 albums. He credited trumpeters Miles Davis, Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie as his greatest influences. The most famous composition from his repertoire is “Work Song”. It hit the pop charts once Oscar Brown, Jr. wrote lyrics for it and subsequently recorded it. Nat called it his “Social Security song”, because, over the years, it provided a steady flow of royalty income.
Adderley was involved, too, in the film A Man Called Adam (1966), starring Sammy Davis, Jr. Davis’ character played the trumpet, an instrument of which the actor had little expertise. So, Adderley was hired to ghost everything that the portrayed character played. This film remains one of the earlier productions in the jazz genre worthwhile seeing. It is accompanied by a good soundtrack.
From 1951 to 1953, Nat served in the U.S. Army. He played in the army band under his brother Cannonball. After his honorable discharged from the army, Nat returned home to Tallahassee. He enrolled at Florida A&M and majored in Education. But, when Lionel Hampton invited him to join his band (1954-55), he eagerly put his studies on hold.
In 1997, Nat returned to the ivory tower of academia as a member of the faculty at Florida Southern College. His status was Artist-In-Residence. He assisted, also, in the development of the annual Child of the Sun Jazz Festival held annually at the college. (He headlined the festival for over a decade.) That same year, he was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in Kansas City.
Nat lived on 112th Street in Harlem in the 1960s, his brother Cannonball in Corona, Queens, that’s where musicians Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Roy Haynes and Ella Fitzgerald lived. In the 1970s, Nat lived in Teaneck, New Jersey and later moved to Lakeland, Florida.
Read about what Nat Adderley was up to in Apple ROUTES | 12/1978
Check out this fantastic Set The Cannonball Adderley Quintet In San Francisco — Bass, Sam Jones, Cornet – Nat Adderley, Drums – Louis Hayes, Piano – Bobby Timmons, Saxophone – Cannonball Adderley
Photo: Krajazz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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