Anyone who ever saw the great Cannonball or Nat Adderley in concert -- or who heard the late jazz icons' live recordings with their between-song patter -- will immediately recognize the voice of another Adderley: in this case, that of Nat Adderley Jr.
More than the familiar voice, though, what should excite jazz fans is that Nat Jr. has returned to the jazz that his father and uncle made their careers and reputations with, and that he's now performing the family classics with his own combo, including a show next Wednesday at Anthology.
Despite the strong family presence on the international jazz scene and having his uncle record one of his songs while he was still in junior high, Nat Jr. spent most of his adult life in the world of R&B as the arranger and musical leader for the late Luther Vandross, whom he met in college. Now in his mid-50s, Nat Jr. told the the North County Times that he always planned to come back to the jazz.
"I knew I had it in the back of my mind," Adderley said during a recent phone interview from his home in New Jersey. "A big part was I didn't want to do the R&B anymore ---- I did all those records with Luther. And not that there aren't young artists I like, but I never wanted to be the old guy trying to stay young and current and have hits."
Read the complete interview in the North County Times.
