Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley

Cannonball playingWikimedia commonsMy hero is Cannonball Adderley. This man has really inspired me this year to continue progressing in jazz. Through jazz this year I was just going through the motions and just staying at adequacy. One day though, my jazz instructor said to start listening to famous alto players who played superbly. One of the names he gave me was Cannonball. I started listening to him and the man could play! I absolutely love listening to him, and I decided I wanted to be able to play near that.

Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley was born on September 15, 1928 in Tampa, Florida. During his younger years some of his friends called him “cannibal” because of how big his appetite was. But, during mispronunciations throughout the years his nickname became “cannonball.” He started a quintet with his brother Nat for a couple of years, but the quintet wasn't as successful until later years.

Then in 1957 Cannonball went on to work with Miles Davis. This was the most creative period of both Cannonball's and Miles Davis's careers. They went on to create some of their greatest albums: Milestones, Kind of Blue, and Something Else.

In 1959 he started another quintet with his brother Nat. This second time is regarded as the successful quintet and this is where Nat wrote Work Song, which is a song that I love. This is one of the songs that really inspired me since we were playing it in jazz too. Another song that was with this group that inspired me was Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.

Sadly, on August 8, 1975 Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley died of a stroke in Gary, Indiana. He may have died that day, but his career and work lives on. He inspired me to go deeper in jazz and keep working at it. This legend is my hero.