Cannonball & Nat Adderley

Jazz Legends

Saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (born Sept 15,1928) and his cornetist brother Nat (born Nov 25, 1931) co-led one of the most successful jazz groups of the 1960’s-1970’s. From the time they arrived on the NYC scene from their native Florida in 1955, and sat in with bassist Oscar Pettiford, they set the town ablaze. Both musicians found work with many of the jazz luminaries of the time, Cannonball famously with Miles Davis’ great sextet that included John Coltrane and recorded Kind of Blue, the biggest selling jazz recording of all time, and Nat with trombonist J. J. Johnson and Woody Herman. By 1959 they formed their long-standing quintet and had their first hit with This Here, the first of many successful recordings, many composed by Nat for the quintet. Nat is also one of the few jazz musicians to continue playing the cornet, instead of the brighter/brassier trumpet favored by most players, which helped give the quintet a more intimate warmer sound.