On the Jazz Scene: The Publics and Counterpublics of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley

In 1961, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley never seemed to stop. Over the course of the calendar year, he made numerous appearances in nightclubs, on television, and at jazz festivals all over the United States and Europe. He took part in at least seventeen recording sessions as a supervising producer, sideman, and leader, including two notable collaborations with Bill Evans and Nancy Wilson.¹ By the midpoint of the year, his hit single “African Waltz” had sold 175,000 copies and became his first record to cross over onto the pop charts, peaking at number forty-one on the Billboard Hot 100.² At different points, Adderley simultaneously acted as educator (narrating A Child's Introduction to Jazz), product spokesman (King instruments), entrepreneur (JunNat Productions), and political activist (at the end of March, for example, he joined California governor Pat Brown at the Sacramento branch of the NAACP to speak about civil rights).^3...