Black History Month: Cannonball's Sharpshooters by Cannonball Adderley
Adderley's original quintet serves up a fine set of hard bop jazz
Cannonball’s Sharpshooters
Julian “Cannonball” Adderley
Mercury Records
Released 1959
Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was born in 1928 in Tampa, Florida. His father was a high school guidance counselor and jazz cornetist while his mother taught elementary school. His family moved to Tallahassee when his parents began teaching at Florida A&M University. He got his nickname while in high school in Tallahassee. A drummer in a band with Adderley, commenting on Adderley’s appetite, dubbed him “Can-E-ball” as in “cannibal.” The nickname eventually morphed into “Cannonball.” Adderley studied music with Leander Kirksey at Florida A&M. He played alto saxophone but was influenced by jazz tenor saxophonists. He said, “I guess (my style of playing) was altered a bit with the realization that there was a Charlie Parker. As a kid I used to copy his solos but not in a deliberate emulation of him.” After graduating from Florida A&M, Adderley became a band director at a Fort Lauderdale high school before being drafted into the Army in 1950. He led the 36th Army Dance Band and studied at the U.S. Naval Academy of Music. Whenever he was off-duty, he played in local groups. After his discharge from the Army, Adderley moved to New York City to continue his music studies and play in the city’s jazz clubs. He created quite a buzz among the jazz community and some even considered Adderley to be the next Charlie Parker. Adderley formed his own group with his brother Nat Adderley who played trumpet. In 1957, he replaced John Coltrane in Miles Davis’ group and appeared on Davis’ landmark album Kind of Blue. He continued to record as the leader of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet which included his brother Nat Adderley and many notable jazz musicians. Cannonball’s Sharpshooters include Julian Mance (piano), Sam Jones (bass), and Jimmy Cobb (drums). The sessions were recorded in March 1958. The album’s opening arrangement “Our Delight” sets a bright, hard-bop pace for the rest of the album. Nat takes an effective solo turn on “Fuller Bop Man,” a Gill Fuller arrangement erroneously credited to Julian in the liner notes. Julian’s original “Jubilation” is just that, an upbeat arrangement featuring jubilant duet choruses from Julian and Nat. When asked how his music related to modern jazz and bop, Julian simply responded, “There’s a kinship. Let’s say it’s an orderly chronological evolution. I don’t consider myself to be a revolutionary as far as jazz is concerned. I’m a mainstream man, that’s all.” By the 1960s, Adderley was also influenced by electric jazz while continuing to tour and record with Nat. The quintet made a brief appearance in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me. Many of Julian’s arrangements have been made famous by other artists, both jazz and rock. In 1975 at the age of 46, Julian suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died four weeks later at St. Mary Methodist Hospital in Gary, Indiana. He is buried in Tallahassee. Julian was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Joe Zawinul, a one-time member of the quintet, composed “Cannon Ball” on Weather Report’s Black Market album in tribute to his former band leader.