In the mid-50's, Adderley was a struggling musician moonlighting from his job as a high school band director. He played in a group with his brother, noted cornet virtuoso Nat Adderley, in their native Florida. While visiting New York, he sat in with Oscar Pettiford and was subsequently signed to Savoy Records. In short order, he was tapped by Miles Davis to play alongside John Coltrane in that immortal sextet. Following following his stint with Miles, Adderley picked up where he has left off, playing with his brother. Over the years, the Adderley siblings performed in a variety of settings, from small groups to big bands, but their best and most popular sides were recorded by quintet and sextets that, over the years, included Joe Zawinul (who wrote "Mercy"), Charles Lloyd, Bobby Timmons, and Yusef Lateef.

Adderley debuted in 1955 on Savoy Records with Presenting Julian Cannonball Adderley featuring an all-star rhythm section of Kenny Clarke and Paul Chambers. These and Adderley's other early hard bop sessions (including Clarke's stellar Bohemia After Dark album featuring Horace Silver and Donald Byrd) are sampled on Summer Of '55 (1999), Spontaneous Combustion (2006), or any number of other Savoy reissues.

Beginning with 1955's Julian Cannonball Adderley (and throughout his celebrated stint with Miles Davis), Cannonball continued recording for the EmArcy label, and these sides are often overlooked by fans and (especially) critics. True, some of these sessions were overtly tailored to pop tastes. By the way, two of the best such albums - Adderley And Strings (1955) and Jump For Joy (1958) - are available as a 2-for-1 CD from Verve.

Most of Cannonball's EmArcy sessions, however, were bop-oriented, and these recordings are compiled in their entirety on Sophisticated Swing: The Emarcy Small Group Recordings - including sessions issued under brother Nat's imprimatur. When EmArcy was shuttered, Adderley switched to Mercury, which reissued his EmArcy sides in the early 60's under a variety of titles new and old including Cannonball EnRoute (1961) and The Lush Side of Cannonball (1962).

As an overview of this period, pick up Verve's The Ultimate Cannonball Adderley (1999) which bring together highlights from all the EmArcy and Mercury recordings, including the fabled quintet sessions with John Coltrane (see below) and a 1962 date with Ray Brown. In the alternative, look for Verve Jazz Masters (1994) or Cannonball Adderley's Finest Hour (2001).

Though Cannonball Adderley was quickly coming into his own as a bandleader, two landmark recordings from the late 50's are Miles Davis-related. Somethin' Else (Blue Note) was a stellar session with Miles Davis, Hank Jones, and Art Blakey, and it is perhaps Adderley's most highly regarded album. This was followed quickly in 1959 by Quintet In Chicago (released on Mercury, and later reissued as Cannonball And Coltrane), a magnificent jam with Adderley's mates from the 1959 Davis sextet, including John Coltrane and Wynton Kelly. It is among the most challenging work Adderley ever did - and among Coltrane's most likeable.

Around this time, Adderley began a productive sojourn at Riverside Records (from 1958 till it went bust in 1963) marked by popular singles like "This Here," "African Waltz," "The Jive Samba," "Work Song," and "Waltz For Debby" (with Bill Evans). Among the standout studio albums from these years are his Riverside debut, Portrait Of Cannonball (1958); Things Are Getting Better (with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, 1958); Quintet In San Francisco (1959); Them Dirty Blues (1960); Know What I Mean? (with Bill Evans, 1961); and the live sextet workout, In New York (1962). Fantasy's Greatest Hits: The Riverside Years collects the highlights from this period, excellent as jumping-off spot or a taster for the casual fan. Adderley also waxed Poll Winners with Ray Brown and Wes Montgomery (1960) and a highly regarded LP, Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley, for Capitol in 1962.

It was Capitol that snatched up Cannonball Adderley after Riverside folded, and they took control of several of his Riverside masters. During these years, Adderley settled into a pleasant, easy groove - though he inarguably continued to produce good music. The first Capitol releases, Jazz Workshop Revisited (an excellent 1962 live date), Cannonball Takes Charge (an authoritative 1959 studio session), and Cannonball's Bossa Nova (featuring Sergio Mendes) were originally recorded for and/or released by Riverside. But, his surprising Fiddler On The Roof (1964) was all new. The popular LP Mercy Mercy Mercy (1966, billed as "live at The Club," which it is not) is also very good, and it gave Adderley the biggest hit of his career.

Contrary to popular wisdom, Adderley pushed and stretched his music later in his career, experimenting with electric music, among other things. But the soulful sides are what he did best (and is best known for), and Blue Note's Best Of Cannonball Adderley: The Capitol Years nicely sums up this aspect of his career. And, it is a good companion to Fantasy's Greatest Hits. Blue Note also collaborated with Verve to produce The Definitive Cannonball Adderley; in a word, it's not definitive, though it cherry picks cuts from four labels and spans 15 years.

Adderley continued to record for Capitol until 1973. He switched briefly to Motown and then to Fantasy before returning to Capitol shortly before his death. All told, the recordings of Cannonball Adderley are many and varied; as many as we've discussed here, there are dozens more. Collecting Cannonball, then, becomes a daunting task. Thankfully, some good compilations exist to expedite the process - though none are any more comprehensive than the all-too-brief Definitive Cannonball Adderley.

Together, five discs - Spontaneous Combustion (Savoy), Ultimate (Verve), Somethin' Else (Blue Note), Greatest Hits (Fantasy), and Best Of (Capitol) - provide a good start, comprising an ad hoc boxed set (sans box) that surveys most of Adderley's prolific catalog. Beyond that, jazz buffs will find a cornucopia of albums to dig - most reissued on CD more than once. [top of page]