On a fall night in 1958, Nancy Wilson joined friends at a jazz emporium in Columbus, Ohio to hear an up-and-coming saxophone player by the name of Cannonball Adderley. The willowy singer performed some unrehearsed tunes with the band. Impressed, three years later Adderley invited her to collaborate with him on an album. It’s the focus of Resident Artist Zach Bartholomew’s jazz concert at Arts Bonita on Oct. 15.
“We're gonna be doing some of the music from that album and some music that also Nancy Wilson sang and that Cannonball Adderley composed,” said Bartholomew.
The 12 songs included on the Wilson-Adderley album are a mix of vocal and purely instrumental groove/swing arrangements.
Bartholomew is importing top talent from Miami for the performance.
“Dr. Argerita Johnson, she's an amazing vocalist and also flute player … she's gonna be playing the role of Nancy Wilson and then a good friend of mine, David Fernandez, who is a Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated saxophonist … he's gonna be playing the role of Cannonball Adderley,” Bartholomew reported.
Brandon Lee on drums and FGCU music instructor and Emmy nominated music director Brandon Robertson on upright bass round out Bartholomew’s quintet.
They perform in the Hinman Auditorium. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m.
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Arts Bonita has partnered with Bartholomew to deliver diverse world-class jazz and jazz-adjacent programming to its audiences. Every concert has its own distinct theme with music written and arranged specifically for that performance. For each show, Bartholomew assembles outstanding musicians from all around the country who travel to Arts Bonita to bring his artistic vision to life.
To attract ever-growing audiences, Bartholomew features a number of the featured artist’s best-known or most popular songs but mixes in “some new stuff they’re not familiar with that I know they’ll like,” Bartholomew explained.
As part of the artist residency, Bartholomew also collaborates with the Arts Bonita Films As Fine Art Series and Lunch & Lecture Series to present multimedia events and educational offerings.
About Zach Bartholomew
Zach Bartholomew is an award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and music educator. He is based in Miami, where he maintains an active performance career as one of the most heavily sought-after pianists, accompanists, and sidemen in the area. In both 2016 and 2017, he placed as one of the top three finalists in the highly acclaimed Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition and more recently has been featured as a performer, composer, and bandleader at various national and international jazz festivals, including the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Jalisco Jazz Festival, and Festival Miami, among others. He and his band have been featured on radio broadcasts, concert series, and regionally promoted events at music venues all over Florida. He has performed with professional organizations such as the Sarasota Pops Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic.
In addition to his active performance career, Bartholomew is a music professor at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, Broward College, and Tiffin University and has been featured as a presenter and performer at national and regional music conferences.
As a bandleader, Bartholomew has taken his band on multiple national tours, headlining at some of the top jazz venues in the country. He has performed as a sideman with artists such as Sean Jones, Victor Goines, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, Dave Holland, David Liebman, Ira Sullivan, Carmen Bradford, Byron Stripling, Dan Miller, Scotty Barnhart, Cyrille Aimee, John Beasley, Charles Calello, and Kevin Mahogany. He is currently involved in numerous musical projects as both a leader and a sideman. One current project is his Florida “Jazz Access Tour,” a grant-funded outreach program that aims to provide communities and schools in Florida with world-class public performances and educational programs.
About Argarita Johnson
Argarita Johnson is an internationally acclaimed flutist, vocalist, author, composer, and pedagogue who has performed in Italy, Poland, Barbados, Finland, Melbourne, Australia and most recently, Accra, Ghana. She holds a bachelor of music degree in classical flute performance from Stetson University as well as a master of music degree in jazz studies from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In addition, Argarita earned doctor of musical arts degree in studio and vocal jazz performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
She recently performed with Bartholomew and the Gulf Coast Jazz Collective at the Collective’s “Great American Songbook” September concert.
About David Fernandez
Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner David Fernandez began his career as a jazz musician in Miami. He received a 2023 Grammy for his work on the Best Reggae Album,
"The Kalling," by Kabaka Pyramid. His Latin Grammy Award was for his performance on “Made in Miami,” by Richard Bravo and Camilo Valencia.
He first studied jazz at Miami Senior High School under the direction of Brian Leavell. He earned an invitation to New York to perform with the McDonald’s All-American High School Band his senior year. He also won an honorable mention from Downbeat Magazine for best high school performer and won first place for best original composition.
Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of Miami and earned his bachelor’s degree. Shortly after, he continued his studies at Florida International University under the direction of Gary Campbell and completed his master’s degree.
Fernandez began his career touring with Latin pop star Chayanne. He has also toured with Jon Secada, Gloria Estefan, Darryl Tookes and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. He has shared the stage with Joe Henderson, Paquito D’ Rivera, Randy Brecker, Kenny Werner, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Minzer, Willy Chirino, Nestor Torres, Rafael, The O.J.’s, The Funk Brothers, Peabo Bryson, Nate Smith, Ignacio Berroa, Patti Austin, and Queen Latifa.
He currently has 15 projects released as a leader, “Symmetry,” “TransitionProject,” “Land,” “David Fernandez*,” “Consortium,” “One Man Banned,” “Sketches of Pain,” “Under the Influence,” “Mygration,” “The Big Bandemic,” “At the Palace,” “Blue of Sky,” “Re-Wire,” “Short and Brief,” and “The Lost City.”
* Made possible by a grant from the City of Miami Department of Cultural Affairs.
Fernandez has also won “The Heart of Art” commission for “Land” from The Arsht Performing Arts Center.
Fernandez was also a professor of saxophones at MDC Wolfson and an adjunct professor at MDC-Kendall, MDC West, Barry University, and FIU. He was also Jazz Discipline Coordinator for Young Arts in 2011-2012. He was on the musical, “On Your Feet,” in New York City from 2015-2018. Fernandez is a proud Jean Paul USA artist.
More on Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley’s collaboration
Wilson left Columbus for New York soon after his chance meeting with Adderley. In New York, she did secretarial work by day and sang by night in a Bronx jazz spot known as the Blue Morocco. This was the start of many exciting developments for the girl from Columbus, not the least of which was the enthused reaction to her singing by Capitol Records' executive producer, Dave Cavanaugh, who signed her right away.
Although they wanted to produce an album from the outset, they agreed to wait until the time was right.
“We wanted a happy, romping sound,” Wilson would later recall. “It would be Cannonball's quintet with me fitting in as a sort of easy-going third horn on some nice songs that haven't already been 'heard to death' on records."
That quintet consisted of Cannonball on alto, his brother on cornet, Louis Hayes on drums, Sam Jones on bass and Joe Zawinul on piano.
The album had many highlights.
Wilson’s vocals were described as versatile, compounded alternately of savagery and delicacy complimented by Nat Adderley’s cornet behind Wilson, especially on "Save Your Love for Me" and "The Old Country."
A number of other tracks rose to prominence, including Joe Zawinul's work behind Wilson on "The Masquerade Is Over," the instrumental numbers “Teaneck" and "One Man's Dream," and the Vernon Duke-Ira Gershwin masterpiece, "I Can't Get Started."
Cannonball Adderley trivia
Cannonball Adderley has a South Florida connection.
“He's actually from Florida,” noted Bartholomew. “He and his brother, Nat Adderley, grew up in Florida, and he famously played with Miles Davis. But before then, he taught at Dillard High School in [Fort Lauderdale] and then he was at FAMU in Tallahassee. In the summers when they weren't teaching, he would go up to New York and that's how he got connected with Miles Davis and then, eventually, joined Miles Davis' band in like the late '50s.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
