A Message from Sanford Josephson, one of our Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon consultants and Advisory Board Members about the upcoming Nat Adderley, Jr. show.
The Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon series is made possible through funding from the Wintrode Family Foundation and the Ocean County College Foundation and media support from the New Jersey Jazz Foundation. It features five or six 3 p.m. Sunday concerts co-hosted by Ricky Riccardi and me.
In addition, the Jay & Linda Grunin Center for the Arts has a big lineup of jazz artists this fall: guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli, vocalist Veronica Swift, a Louis Armstrong Hot Five Centennial Celebration, and Jukebox Saturday Night, a big band that celebrates America’s Swing Era.
I thought you would like a preview of the exciting first Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon concert, scheduled for September 13: a quartet led by pianist Nat Adderley, Jr.
In October 2025, Adderley, Jr., the late R&B singer Luther Vandross’ Music Director for 25 years, released his first-ever jazz album as a leader, Took So Long. It soared to Number 1 on the JazzWeek charts, spending five weeks in that position and remaining in the Top 50 for several more weeks.
DownBeat Magazine’s Joshua Myerscalled Took So Long “a near perfect mixture of standard jazz tunes and popular musical mainstays . . . It is simply cool to hear once again how interpretations of sounds made famous by Stevie Wonder, The Stylistics, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross, and Aretha Franklin beautifully coexist along those written by Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie.”
The Amsterdam News‘ Ronald E. Scott described Took So Long as “an intriguing album that extends Nat’s R&B arranging brilliance to the jazz forum . . . His sound somewhat resembles pianist Erroll Garner. Nat plays fewer notes, allowing more open phrasing space, but, like Garner, he has that subtle, high-flyin’ bouncy flow.”
WBGO Radio’s Gary Walker, featuring the album as the station’s “New Day, New Play” album in October said, “There are reimagined standards, an original, and a fabulous recollection of his dear friend, Luther Vandross, on ‘Superstar’ . . . It might have taken so long, but it has been well worth it.”
Took So Long features Adderley leading a trio, alternating two bassists — Chris Berger and Belden Bullock — with four drummers — Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax, Tommy Campbell, Vince Ector, and Steve Johns. At the September 13th concert, in Grunin’s Gia Maione Prima Foundation Studio, Adderley will lead a quartet, playing selections from Took So Long.
In addition to “Superstar,” Took So Long includes Adderley’s title track, Stevie Wonder’s “You and I (We Can Conquer the World)”, Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma”, Bronislaw Kaper’s “Green Dolphin Street”, and Burton Lane’s “Old Devil Moon.” At the concert there will also be some tunes “that didn’t make the album and that will probably be on a second album.” They might include music associated with Adderley’s late uncle, alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, such as Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy Mercy Mercy”, “The Work Song”, written by Adderley’s father, trumpeter Nat Adderley, and Jerry Bock’s “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof.
There will probably also be something from the Burt Bacharach/Hal David songbook as well as Frank Perkins’ “Stars Fell on Alabama”, and Duke Pearson’s “Jeannine.”
One more song sure to be performed will be Victor Young’s “Stella By Starlight.” Adderley’s mother passed away last spring, and “it was my mom’s favorite tune. My father’s other son played it solo on the trumpet as we lowered my mom into the ground. So, I will be playing that song all the time.”
Tickets to Nat Adderley, Jr. on September 13, 2026 at 3pm go on sale Thursday, July 9, 2026 at noon. We look forward to you joining us!