Blues and All That Jazz: Lost Recordings by Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley and Miles Davis

Blues and All That Jazz: Lost Recordings by Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and Miles Davis
Recently unearthed live performances by Adderley and Davis highlight the deep connections between jazz and blues within the history of Black American music.

​Combined jazz-and-blues festivals remain relatively rare, yet when they do occur, they bring musicians and audiences together in a spirit of unity. From the highly successful Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival to the legendary John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival in High Point, North Carolina, such events celebrate musical diversity, offering listeners the chance to experience the depth and magnificence of two genres that have long been in dialogue.

Both the blues and jazz are rooted in the history of Black American music, their lineage inseparable from the African diaspora’s struggles in the United States. The blues, the older tradition, is notoriously difficult to trace, but its origins lie in the vocal traditions of 18th- and 19th-century Black Americans in the South—work songs of enslaved people, gospel singing, and rural folk forms. Jazz emerged later, at the turn of the 20th century, absorbing blues, ragtime, and marching-band influences. More importantly, the two traditions have always been intertwined—answering, shaping, and enriching one another across generations.

This context is essential to understanding the resonance of two remarkable recent releases of lost recordings by two towering figures of modern jazz: Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and Miles Davis. Though blues devotees may not immediately gravitate toward these jazz icons, common ground abounds.

Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley – Live in Paris 1969, Berlin 1972
Available now for the first time on record, this double set captures Cannonball at a period of artistic breadth. The liner notes remind us: “He tackled each and every facet of jazz—cool jazz, funk, hard bop, and all their variations—and was head over heels in love with the blues. Cannonball was often heard to say, ‘There’s no future without the past and anybody who doesn’t really understand where jazz has come from has no right to try to direct where it’s going.’”
The quintet featured Julian on alto saxophone, Nat Adderley on cornet, Roy McCurdy on drums, with keyboard duties shared by Joe Zawinul and George Duke, and bass by Victor Gaskin and Walter Booker. Nat, credited as a pioneer of soul-jazz, brought a sound defined by simple harmonies, gospel flavor, blues-heavy riffs, and infectious grooves. Zawinul would soon join Miles Davis and co-found Weather Report, helping shape jazz fusion, while George Duke would later make his mark with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.
This 1969 concert highlights the band’s blues credentials—most notably in a passionate version of “Oh Babe,” sung with grit and despair by Nat. The pristine audio quality of this set makes it feel as if the band were performing in one’s own living room. Also included are “Work Song,” Nat’s enduring composition inspired by convict chain-gang chants, alongside “Hummin’,” “Manhã de Carnaval,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” and two takes on “Walk Tall.”

Miles Davis Quintet – The Complete Live in Paris 1960, Vol. 1
The story of this release is as captivating as the music itself. While researching in the Netherlands, The Lost Recordings team spotted a photograph of vintage red Sonocolor tapes in a collector’s home in Brittany. One was labeled Miles Davis – Olympia 1960. Inside were three previously unreleased performances: “All Blues,” “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise,” and “Makin’ Whoopee.” A global search led to further tapes in France, the U.S., and Stockholm, resulting in this extraordinary restoration.
The band—Miles Davis (trumpet), Sonny Stitt (saxophone), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Jimmy Cobb (drums)—is in peak form. Davis’s “All Blues,” from his immortal Kind of Blue, is rendered with a supple, bluesy feel. Few listeners may realize the piece later gained lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr., the Chicago poet, songwriter, and activist whose words reframed it as a meditation on humanity, struggle, and unity: “We’re all blues, all shades, all hues.”

Other highlights include “Walkin’,” “Four,” “Autumn Leaves,” and “The Theme.” The clarity of the restored sound captures every nuance—from hushed passages to brassy crescendos—making this set not just historically important but musically essential.

A Legacy in DialogueAmerican Blues Scene has already lauded previous entries in The Lost Recordings series, praising Ella Fitzgerald Live at the Concertgebouw 1961 as “a solo performance of breathtaking virtuosity,” and The American Folk Blues Festival 1962 & 1963 as “a front-row experience of the blues’ transformative impact on European audiences.”
In this same spirit, the Adderley and Davis releases stand as both jazz landmarks and testaments to the shared roots of jazz and blues. They will naturally appeal to jazz aficionados, but their blues spirit and historical weight should resonate far beyond the boundaries of genre.
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Both titles are available now in limited-edition vinyl pressings, alongside deluxe CD editions—including The Complete Live in Paris Vol. 1 & II on UHQCD—exclusively from The Lost Recordings store.

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