Work Song (Nat Adderley song)

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Nat Adderley in 1969. Nat Adderley 1969.JPG
Nat Adderley in 1969.

"Work Song" is a work song and jazz standard [1] by American trumpeter Nat Adderley and writer Oscar Brown Jr. It was first featured in Adderley's 1960 studio album of the same name, which was met with high praise and acclaim. [2] [3] "Work Song" is one of Adderley's best known compositions. [4]

Contents

The song was originally only an instrumental, but Oscar Brown Jr. included lyrics in a cover released the following year on his album, Sin & Soul. [5]

Background

Picture of a Southern chain gang circa 1903. A Southern chain gang c1903-restore.jpg
Picture of a Southern chain gang circa 1903.

"Work Song" was inspired by Nat Adderley's childhood experience of seeing a group of convict laborers singing while they worked on a chain gang, paving the street in front of his family’s home in Florida. [6]

Musical composition

The song is a 16 bar form in F minor. It is a minor blues. [7]

F-7•/• [a] •/••/•
F-7•/•C7•/•
F-7•/••/••/•
F7Bb7Db7 C7F-7

The Penguin Guide to Jazz states: "'Work Song' is the real classic, of course, laced with a funky blues feel but marked by some unexpectedly lyrical playing." [8] In a musical analysis of Adderley's improvisational bebop style, Kyle M. Granville writes that the song is "connected to the soul-jazz style that Nat Adderley and his brother Cannonball Adderley immersed themselves into during the mid-1960s." [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ This indicates to stay on the chord that came before. See: Grid notation

References

  1. ↑ Saunders, Martin Wesley. Nat Adderley (1931-2000) and Work song : an analysis of improvisational style and evolution. OCLC   690253067.
  2. ↑ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 17, 2010.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music (3rd ed.). Virgin Books Ltd. p. 9. ISBN   1-85227-933-8.
  4. ↑ Micucci, Matt (2020-11-25). "Song of the Day: Cannonball Adderley Quintet, "Work Song"". JAZZIZ Magazine. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  5. ↑ Yanow, Scott. "Oscar Brown, Jr.: Sin & Soul –Review". AllMusic . Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  6. ↑ Gridley, Mark (2014). "Review of Walk Tall: The Music and Life of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. (The Hal Leonard Jazz Biography Series); Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition" . Notes. 71 (1): 108–112. doi:10.1353/not.2014.0108. ISSN   0027-4380. JSTOR   43672881.
  7. ↑ Vaartstra, Brent (2013-05-30). "Work Song". Learn Jazz Standards. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  8. ↑ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. pp.  11. ISBN   978-0-141-02327-4.
  9. ↑ M, Granville, Kyle (2020-01-01). A Musical Analysis of the Improvisational Bebop Style of Nat Adderley (1955-1964). OCLC   1286934150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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