Julian “Cannonball” Adderley's King Super 20 Silversonic alto saxophone: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This alto saxophone was played by jazz legend Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (1928-1975). Adderley was born in Tampa, Florida to a family of educators. Moving to New York City, Adderley performed often with his brother, Nat, a cornetist and trumpeter. In addition to his own records as a leader, Julian Adderley performed on one of the most iconic jazz albums of the 20th century, Miles Davis’ 1959 Kind of Blue. This saxophone was sold to the Los Angeles-based musician and teacher William (“Bill”) Green (1925-1996) by Olga James Adderley, who was married to Adderley from 1962 to 1975. Green later sold the instrument to James D. C. Barrall. The alto saxophone's unique features includes a silver bell and pearl side keys.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: alto saxophone
• Object Name: saxophone
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 26 in x 10 in x 5 in; 66.04 cm x 25.4 cm x 12.7 cm
• ID Number: 2022.0093.01
• accession number: 2022.0093
• catalog number: 2022.0093.01
• Credit Line: Gift of James D. C. Barrall and Carole Barrall
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.