Nat Adderley - Work Song (1960/2015) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/192kHz]

Nat Adderley led a double creative life at Riverside: featured on the highly successful working-group albums led by his brother Cannonball, and also devising several intriguingly different projects under his own name. Very possibly the most interesting was Work Song, which took its title from one of Nat's most widely known soulful compositions, and took its instrumentation from the younger Adderley's fertile imagination. Cornet, cello, and guitar make up a front line that will probably never be duplicated. The guitarist was his friend Wes Montgomery, just emerging towards jazz stardom; the cellist was the longtime bassist of Cannonball's band, Sam Jones.

Work Song is a near-classic by cornetist Nat Adderley. Adderley utilizes a cornet-cello-guitar front line with Sam Jones and Wes Montgomery, along with a top-notch rhythm section pianist including Bobby Timmons, Percy Heath, or Keter Betts on bass and drummer Louis Hayes. First up is a fine early performance of his greatest hit, "Work Song." He also helps introduce Cannonball Adderley's "Sack O' Woe." Four songs use a smaller group, with Timmons absent on "My Heart Stood Still," which finds Keter Betts on cello and Jones on bass; "Mean to Me" featuring Nat backed by Montgomery, Betts, and Hayes; and two ballads ("I've Got a Crush on You" and "Violets for Your Furs") interpreted by the Adderley-Montgomery-Jones trio. No matter the setting, Nat Adderley is heard throughout in peak form, playing quite lyrically. Highly recommended.

Tracklist:

01 - Work Song
02 - Pretty Memory
03 - I've Got A Crush On You
04 - Mean To Me
05 - Fallout
06 - Sack Of Woe
07 - My Heart Stood Still
08 - Violets For Your Furs
09 - Scrambled Eggs

Produced by Orrin Keepnews. Engineered by Jack Higgins.
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios in New York City on January 25, 1960 (tracks 2, 4, 5 & 7) and January 27, 1960 (tracks 1, 3, 6, 8 & 9).

Musicians:
Nat Adderley – cornet
Wes Montgomery - guitar
Bobby Timmons - piano
Sam Jones - bass, cello
Keter Betts - bass, cello
Percy Heath - bass
Louis Hayes - drums


Thanks to the Original customer!