Work Song (Nat Adderley album)

Work Song is an album by jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, recorded in January 1960 and released on the Riverside label. It features Adderley with Bobby Timmons, Wes Montgomery, Sam Jones, Percy Heath, Keter Betts and Louis Hayes in various combinations from a trio to a sextet, with the unusual sound of pizzicato cello to the fore on some tracks.[1]

This article is about the 1960 studio album. For the 1990 live album, see Work Song: Live at Sweet Basil.
Work Song
Studio album by
Nat Adderley
Released1960
RecordedJanuary 25 & 27, 1960
GenreJazz, hard bop
LabelRiverside
Nat Adderley chronology
Much Brass
(1959)		 Work Song
(1960)		 Thats Right!
(1960)

The title tune was given lyrics and covered the following year by Oscar Brown Jr. on his album Sin And Soul...and then some and has become a standard in both vocal and instrumental forms. It has also been covered in French by Claude Nougaro as "Sing Sing song".

Reception

The album is recognised as one of Adderley's finest. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars, calling it a "near-classic" and stating: "Nat Adderley is heard throughout in peak form, playing quite lyrically. Highly recommended".[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, stating: "Work Song is the real classic, of course, laced with a funky blues feel but marked by some unexpectedly lyrical playing."[3] Colin Larkin awarded the album 4 stars (excellent) in The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music, stating: "…a brilliant amalgam of the soul jazz…".[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[5]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Nat Adderley except where noted.

  1. "Work Song" (Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr) – 4:15
  2. "Pretty Memory" (Bobby Timmons) – 3:54
  3. "I've Got a Crush on You" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:55
  4. "Mean to Me" (Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) – 5:01
  5. "Fallout" – 4:54
  6. "Sack of Woe" – 4:28
  7. "My Heart Stood Still" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 6:25
  8. "Violets for Your Furs" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 3:50
  9. "Scrambled Eggs" (Sam Jones) – 3:20
  • 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)

Personnel

References
  1. Riverside Records discography accessed February 17, 2010
  2. Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 17, 2010.
  3. 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.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music (3rd ed.). Virgin Books Ltd. p. 9. ISBN 1 85227 933 8.
  5. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 5. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
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