When Nat Adderley, Jr. was ready to release his solo album, his sister (my college classmate) reached out to see if I was interested. Of course! Nat and I did this interview in the spring of ’25, and I presented audio portions of it in an episode of The Soul Show. Here is the release of the full conversation. It is fascinating to hear about the long road from Luther Vandross’ musical director to solo jazz album. There are also tidbits for the deep-cut buff about Nat’s teenage band, Natural Essence.
(BTW, Altadena-based artist Rasheed Ali, whose “1968” album series you’ve heard on The Soul Show, was Nat’s bandmate in Natural Essence.)
Here is the archive of the April 2025 episode of The Soul Show that featured interview excerpts and the first track release from Nat’s album: