Born to swing: Nat Adderley Jr. returns to his roots
By Matthew Oshinsky/The Star-Ledger
September 10, 2009, 5:17PM



Growing up in a major jazz family, the pianist, composer, and arranger Nat Adderley Jr. was destined to be a musician. His father was the powerhouse cornetist and composer Nat Adderley, who was famed for his work with his brother, the legendary alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.

The 54-year-old pianist was born in Quincy, Fla., but grew up in Teaneck from age 5. He began playing the piano soon thereafter. "And I was just 11 when Cannonball and my father recorded my song 'I'm on My Way,'" he says. The tune appeared on Cannonball's 1967 classic, "Why Am I Treated So Bad!" (Capitol).

This weekend, Adderley Jr. will appear Friday at Trumpets in Montclair and Saturday at the seventh annual Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center Jazz Festival in West Orange.

Despite all that jazz juice in his genes, Adderley Jr. has spent nearly his entire career in pop and R&B, primarily as music director and arranger for the esteemed R&B singer Luther Vandross (1951-2005).

Adderley met Vandross in the mid-1970s while both were students at New York's noted LaGuardia High School of Music and Art. In 1979, then an African-American studies graduate of Yale University living in Houston, Texas -- where he performed with jazz sax aces Arnett Cobb and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson" -- Adderley arranged material for Vandross' first hit album, 1981's "Never Too Much" (Epic/Legacy). He subsequently worked with the singer until February 2003, when Vandross suffered the stroke that ended his career and led to his death.

"Luther was a hilarious guy, a great employer, a great friend, and an incredible musician," Adderley says.

These days, Adderley, who makes his home in West Orange, has his sights set back on jazz. "There's no question, my success in pop overshadowed jazz," he says. He's been playing with saxophonist Tom Scott in tributes to Cannonball and his father, and he's been working with singer Paulette McWilliams.

"I'm trying to go ahead and reclaim my roots," he says. "I've always loved the 1960s, a phenomenal period. I still love (John) Coltrane and Chick Corea from that time. And I'm a late (Thelonious) Monk convert."

Adderley Jr. also cites Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul (who rose to fame with the Adderleys), Kenny Barron and Cedar Walton as pianists "who are killing me."

For his engagements this week, Adderley Jr. will hit Trumpets with tenorman Willie Williams, bassist Greg Jones and drummer Greg Buford. Buford and bassist John Lee will flesh out a trio with Adderley at the OSPAC fest. His programs will "straddle the fence," the leader says, mixing jazz classics like Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" and Corea's "Litha" with jazz-based covers of such pop songs as "Superstar," which was a hit for Vandross. A standard like "Love for Sale" might also make an appearance.

"It's good to be swinging again," Adderley, Jr. says. "I'm pleased with all I have done in pop, but I think I should focus on jazz now.

http://www.nj.com/enterta...ey_jr.html
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At Luther's funeral, Nat Adderley Jr. played an instrumental version of...



...A House Is Not A Home

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For those of you in the Southern Cal area, Nat Adderley Jr. will be performing Music of Cannonball and Nat Adderley at the following venues.

Date: March 17th
Venue: Anthology
Location: 1337 India Street San Diego CA 92101
Phone: (619) 595-0300
Web: http://www.anthologysd.com/index.html


Date: March 24th
Venue: Catalina Jazz Club
Location: 6725 West SUNSET Blvd. Hollywood CA 90028
Phone: (323) 466-2210
Web: http://www.catalinajazzclub.com


The band will include my business partner and good friend Longineu Parsons on cornet and longtime member of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Roy McCurdy on drums.

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Just in case you're wondering about the award behind him with Beyonce pictured...



...He produced, arranged and played piano for the Beyonce/Vandross duet The Closer I Get To You on her debut album.




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[Edited 3/19/10 13:26pm]

...

I'm definitely looking forward to this, I've always enjoyed his production, arrangement and playing...





...

These folks are not joke. I loved Cannonball as a kid.....still do.

theAudience said:

Based on that playing.....I need 2 go practice.
Nice.

Thanks for posting the article and clips of one of the chief architects of the Luther sound. He is a musician in his own right.

paligap said:

Might be coming to a venue near you.



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Graycap23 said:

They made some great music during their careers.



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theAudience said:

4 sho.

One of Nat Sr.'s most familiar tunes...



...Work Song





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theAudience said:

If Graycap23 and I are lucky, Nat will make his way to Atlanta.

I wish Ted Shumate were playing with him, as well....he also has a performance history with the Adderleys.

cubic61052 said:

Hello stranger.....

theAudience said:

ahhhhh.. a fave

Graycap23 said:

(Hey....)

More from the Adderley brothers...



...Jive Samba (also includes a young Joe Zawinul)



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[Edited 3/4/10 14:04pm]

news. Thanks

More from Cannonball & Nat...



...Jessica's Birthday & Brother John




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From a Jazz Times interview...

Nat Adderley Jr. Launches Cannonball Quintet Tribute Project

By Evan Haga

“This is all so brand new to me,” laughs the pianist, arranger and composer Nat Adderley Jr., on the phone from a rehearsal space in Tallahassee, Fla. He’s discussing a new live tribute to the music of his uncle, saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, and father, cornet and trumpet player Nat Adderley, that hits San Diego’s ultra-posh Anthology tonight and Catalina’s in L.A. on March 24. “I can’t believe I’m talking to [JazzTimes] about it. I’m still in shock about the whole thing.”

His bewilderment is surprising, to say the least. After all, the young Adderley’s involvement with the historic Cannonball Adderley Quintet began early. At 11 he wrote and arranged a tune, the sharply grooving “I’m On My Way,” that was included on Cannonball’s 1967 release Why Am I Treated So Bad! At 15, he sat in with the group at the Monterey Jazz Festival, singing and playing his own “The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free,” a bold protest tune bordering on militant. It became the title track to an Adderley-band album in 1970.

As a kid growing up in New Jersey, such experiences didn’t register like you might expect. “That was amazing, [but] I was ignoring all of that,” Adderley says of “I’m On My Way.” “I was in school, and I spent those years just trying to just be a kid. Because my dad wasn’t home. During that time they were on the road like nine months of the year.” As for his Monterey debut, he admits, “I have a lot of memories of that age, but I do not remember actually physically being on that stage.”

Adderley’s own musical career followed a different trajectory than that of the relentlessly touring straightahead player. Although he’d studied jazz as an adolescent and returned to the music often throughout his life, Adderley has always been interested in pop and made his name in R&B. He counts among his “first musical loves” Motown, the Beatles and Bacharach & David, and had his first “road gig” with Ashford & Simpson as a teenager.

While still in college at Yale, pursuing a degree in African-American studies but taking “all the music he wanted,” Adderley got a call from a young singer he knew from high school, Luther Vandross. Adderley would go on to act as a musical director, arranger, composer, pianist and producer to the late R&B icon for a quarter-century. “Neither one of us thought it was gonna last forever, like it did,” he says, adding later that Vandross’ passing “left a big whole, a big void in all of our lives.”

The Vandross gig was steady, high-profile work that prevented Adderley from committing to a full-fledged jazz career. “There would be some periods when we weren’t in the studio or on the road, and I would be playing jazz around Manhattan,” he says. “But as soon as I would really get going, I’d get the call and it’d be time for us to go back in the studio or go on the road. I just never got going going [with jazz] until recently.”

Adderley’s line-up on the West Coast includes cornet player Longineu Parsons, saxophonist Diron Holloway, bassist Trevor Ware and drummer (and Cannonball Adderley Quintet member) Roy McCurdy. In terms of repertory, Adderley is casting his net wide, to include “anything they ever played,” in addition to the Adderley Quintet’s own earthy hard-bop and soul-jazz classics. In approach, he’ll bring his pop and R&B influences to faithful arrangements. “We’re starting closer than anybody else has—I think—to what the quintet was doing back then,” says Adderley, who highly regards drummer Louis Hayes’ Cannonball Legacy Band featuring a good friend, saxophonist Vincent Herring.

And what of the business end? Nat Adderley Sr. was legendary for his management acumen, reportedly taking over for Cannonball after he mismanaged the group’s finances. “I’m not much of a businessman,” he laughs. “We’ll see. I’ve always handled my own business, but I’ve always needed someone to come and take over.”

http://jazztimes.com/arti...te-project
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More on the Anthology gig later.



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Orrin Keepnews on...



...Cannonball Adderley Quintet Live in San Francisco



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A clip from San Diego's Anthology gig...



...Autumn Leaves



TONIGHT!
Date: March 24th
Venue: Catalina Jazz Club
Location: 6725 West SUNSET Blvd. Hollywood CA 90028
Phone: (323) 466-2210
Web: http://www.catalinajazzclub.com



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Looks like a nice gig.....hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for sharing.

cubic61052 said:

Live Jazz: The Nat Adderley Jr./Longineu Parsons Quintet at Catalina Bar & Grill
March 25, 2010 — irom
By Tony Gieske

You can’t get much more down home than this: The Nat Adderley Jr. and Longineu Parsons quintet playing the music of Cannonball and Nat Adderley.

At Catalina’s Tuesday night, the young Adderley, who made his bones as the musical director for Luther Vandross, played piano with mucho soul, not to mention deep-seated jazz spirit.

The same attributes were demonstrated by cornetist Parsons and the alto player Diron Holloway. All the more amazing since the two horn men are music professors at Florida A&M. Adderley Jr. holds a degree in African-American Studies from Yale.

Off-campus tonight, the players enthusiastically caught the spirit of such immortal Adderley brothers hits as “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Work Song” and “This Here.”

Prof. Parsons’ efforts were glistening examples of advanced technique, with a satisfactory echo of cornetist Nat. Prof. Holloway (no relation to tenor man Red Holloway) did not try to evoke the original Nat’s brother Cannonball. He just threw in plenty, plenty soul of his own devising and a bushel of affection too. And of course that did sound like Cannonball.

Nat Jr. brought more than one tide of approbation from the plump, silver-haired assembly as he block-chorded to climax after climax at the piano.

After five or six of the classic charts from the senior generation, propelled with conviction by drummer Roy McCurdy and bassist Trevor Ware, wives and children of the musicians were introduced to the house by Adderley, and he played “Happy Birthday” to one or two of ’em.

Never would have happened at a Miles Davis gig, right?

http://irom.wordpress.com...bar-grill/
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It was a very good gig last night.
I'll post some pics I took once I review them to see how many are actually in focus.

Nat Adderley Jr. also received a few proclamations that were presented by a representative of L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.



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Good deal....glad to see the success.

theAudience said:

Some shots from the Catalina gig.






...Nat Jr. playing, talking & receiving the proclamation.




...Trevor Ware




...Roy McCurdy




...Diron Holloway


And my main man...



...Longineu Parsons

The horn you see is not just any horn...



...but Nat Adderley's cornet.





...Doug Daniels (cousin/lawyer), LP (Longineu's son - drummer with Yellowcard, Adam Lambert), Longineu Parsons & yours truly.



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[Edited 4/2/10 12:36pm]

Glad you had such a nice time with your friends....looks like that picture caught you mid-sentence

Looks like Longineu has eaten a few extra Polish kielbasa and pierogis.....he looks healthy.

Thanks for sharing.




[Edited 3/26/10 6:54am]

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Sounds like a great night!! Kool Pics, as usual!!!!






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Yoshi's?

Great Thread!