Adderley, Nat, 1931-2000

Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley was born on November 25, 1931, in Tampa, Florida.

He was an American jazz trumpeter and composer, the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he played with for many years. He attended Florida University, majoring in sociology with a minor in music, and switched to cornet in 1950. From 1951 to 1953, he served in the army and played in the army band under his brother, taking at least one tour of Korea before returning to the United States. He attended Florida A&M, intending to become a teacher. While in school, Lionel Hampton invited him to join his band on a European tour in 1954-55. In 1956, he moved with his brother to New York City, founding the bop group Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Adderley became a musical innovator and accomplished improviser of the hard-bop jazz movement. His abilities as a jazz musician rivalled many of his musical contemporaries. He was not only known for his outstanding cornet improvisations but also for his compositional output. Many of his works, such as the “Work Song” (1960), are now part of the standard jazz repertoire. He had also been recording outside the Adderley group. He worked with Kenny Clarke, Wes Montgomery, and Walter Booker. In 1966, he was hired to ghost Sammy Davis Jr.'s character of the trumpet player in the movie “A Man Called Adam.” In the 1970s, he toured Europe, Japan, US and taught courses at Harvard while performing and recording with his quintet. He created the Adderley Brotherhood, and in the 1980s and 1990s, he toured Europe and the US. In 1997, he joined the faculty of Florida Southern College as an artist-in-residence and was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in Kansas City.

He died on January 2, 2000, in Lakeland, Florida.