American jazzman Nat Adderley played the cornet most famously in his brother's Cannonball Adderley's Quintet, which had huge success in the 1960s. He was an accomplished soloist and wrote several original pieces including 'Work Song', 'Jive Samba', and 'The Old Country'. Following his brother's death in 1975, he formed his own quintet with sidemen Walter Booker and Jimmy Carter and alto saxophonist Victor Herring.
Born in Florida, he learned to play the trumpet from his musician father but after he attended Florida University, he switched to the cornet, which he played in a US Army band during his military service. A meeting with bandleader Lionel Hampton led to a stint with his band but his big break came when he and his brother sat in one night with bass player Oscar Pettiford at the Café Bohemia in New York. The two moved to New York where Cannonball formed the first of his quintets, which failed to make its mark.
Nat had periods with J.J. Johnson and Woody Herman until 1959 when his brother, having found success with Miles Davis and John Coltrane, formed another quintet, which hit the big time. Playing soul jazz and bebop, they toured and made popular recordings until Cannonball's untimely death. Nat stepped up and won international popularity, especially in Europe and Japan.
Known also as a dedicated teacher, he has a long list of recordings with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and as sideman with other artists such as Kenny Burrell, Charlie Byrd, Milt Jackson, Oliver Nelson and Sonny Rollins. He died in 2000 aged 68.
