Song:Happy Talk
Album:The Very Best Of Nancy Wilson: The Capitol Recordings 1960-1976
When Nancy Wilson signed with Capitol Records in 1959, they wanted to turn her into a pop singer. Instead she took the advice of her mentor Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and stuck to jazz. It was Adderley who discovered Nancy in a Columbus, OH club and told her to move to New York City. Though she had some hit singles, she always returned to jazz and that is her legacy. One of the first things Nancy wanted to do when she signed with Capitol was record an album with Adderley. After recording the 1961 album The Swingin's Mutual with pianist George Shearing, she recorded the 1962 album Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley. The album was recorded with Adderley's usual band with Nancy sitting in "as a sort of easy going third horn" as she said in the liner notes. Nancy sang on seven of the twelve songs singing mostly standards including Happy Talk from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific. The band was Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, his brother Nat Adderley on cornet, Joe Zawinul on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Zawinul wrote the arrangements as he was Adderley's musical director. This album was released on CD in 1993 with a bonus track. But I'm going to recommend this three CD overview of Nancy's career at Capitol which includes three songs from the Adderley album. It's budget priced. Unfortunately, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley never appeared on TV together. Considering they were both constantly on tour, I'm sure it was difficult to have them record together. She did appear on Adderley's 1968 live album In Person. And she has appeared with other jazz musicians. After a long and distinguished career, Nancy Wilson retired in 2006. Here's Nancy Wilson performing Happy Talk with Lou Levy on piano, Al McKibbon on bass and Kenny Dennis (Nancy's husband) on drums on the TV series Jazz Scene USA 1962.
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