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About Cannonball Adderley

The Blue Note Portal

The summer of 1969 was the kind of summer that made you question every decision that had led you to that particular sidewalk at that particular hour. Cannonball Adderley stepped out of a yellow cab at 207 East 30th Street and immediately felt his shirt collar dampen. He carried his Selmer Mark VI alto case by the leather handle the way a man carries something he's carried ten thousand times before--without thinking, the way you carry your own arm.

Play This!

Corcovado Looms Large Over South American Rhythm

by Keith Flint
July 19, 2026

Corcovado refers to the “Hunchback" mountain in the Tijuca Forest near Rio de Janeiro. Similar to the granite peak itself, this track emerges above its surroundings on the album Cannonball's Bossa Nova (Capitol Records, 1963). Immediately following guitarist Durval Ferreira's three introductory chromatic chords, Cannonball Adderley's alto saxophone glides above and gently overlays the rhythm section of Sergio Mendes (piano), Octavio Bailly Jr. (bass), and Dom Um Romão (drums). Written by Antônio Carlos Jobim, at a distinctive 127 ...

History of Jazz

1502 Ridge Avenue and Other Extinct Philly Jazz Temples

by Richard J Salvucci
March 25, 2026

So we give Cannonball Adderley the floor. It is late 1955, and Adderley was in Philadelphia at the legendary Blue Note Café--yes, there was a Blue Note in Philly, in Chicago, and in New York, no kin to each other. Adderley was making an initial tour in the North, this after his sensational debut in Café Bohemia in New York. It isn't entirely clear who Adderley had with him in Philadelphia: he called them his “Florida men." And they had ...

So You Don't Like Jazz

The Unlikely Story of Cannonball Adderley's Rise to the Top

by Alan Bryson
August 13, 2025

For me, the most gripping music stories are the tales of “overnight sensations." In the jazz sphere, we have our share. There is the story of an eighteen-year-old Billie Holiday, discovered by producer John Hammond while she was a hostess in a Harlem club. There is the tale of a seventeen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald, whose triumphant debut at an Apollo talent contest soon landed her a spot as the vocalist for Chick Webb's orchestra. Even more remarkable is the sheer chance ...

Album Review

Cannonball Adderley: Burnin' In Bordeaux: Live In France 1969

Read "Burnin' In Bordeaux: Live In France 1969" reviewed by Stefano Merighi

by Stefano Merighi
April 10, 2025

Altra nuova perla della Elemental Music, e sempre con la produzione di Zev Feldman, “Burnin' in Bordeaux" (doppio CD) celebra il magistero di Julian Cannonball Adderley, un poeta assoluto del sax contralto, e la solidità nonché la brillantezza del suo quintetto di fine anni '60. Adderley, scomparso a soli 46 anni nel 1975, è stato fedele alla sua idea di jazz anche in un periodo in cui le trasformazioni si succedevano in fretta e in cui il grande ...

Radio & Podcasts

Cannonball Adderley: Assessing Airshots

by Patrick Burnette
May 31, 2024

The Record Store Day madness continues as the boys take two Cannonball Adderley air-shots from France for a spin. Whether he's Poppin in Paris or Burning in Bordeaux, the listener can hear Adderley's group transitioning from the sixties to the seventies, even if things get bumpy from time to time. To put the great alto saxophonist's creativity into context, two of his more surprising releases on Capitol Records also get a look in. Once you've heard the man's stone classics, ...

Radio & Podcasts

The (Record Store) Day After - Part 1

by Ludovico Granvassu
May 16, 2024

This is a special edition of Mondo Jazz focusing on soon-to-be collector's items which were released on the occasion of the first Record Store Day of 2024. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Cannonball Adderley “Walk Tall" Poppin' in Paris: Live at L'Olympia 1972 (Elemental) 0:16 Host talks 4:30 Cannonball Adderley “Why Am I Treated So Bad?" Burnin' in Bordeaux: Live in France 1969 (Elemental) 6:18 ...