Artist: Cannonball Adderley

Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", which was written for him by his keyboardist Joe Zawinul, and became a major crossover hit on the pop and R&B charts.

Adderley worked with Miles Davis, first as a member of the Davis sextet, appearing on the seminal records Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue (1959), and then on his own 1958 album Somethin' Else. He was the elder brother of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley, who was a longtime member of his band. 

Cannonball moved to New York City in 1955. Intending to pursue graduate studies at New York conservatories, one night in 1955 he brought his saxophone with him to the Café Bohemia. Cannonball was asked to sit in with Oscar Pettiford,  in place of his band's regular saxophonist, who was late for the gig. The "buzz" on the New York jazz scene after Adderley's performance announced him as the heir to the mantle of Charlie Parker. 

Adderley formed his own group with his brother Nat after signing onto the Savoy jazz label in 1957. He was noticed by Miles Davis, and it was because of his blues-rooted alto saxophone that Davis asked him to play with his group, and he joined the Davis band in October 1957, three months prior to the return of John Coltrane to the group.

Some of Davis's finest trumpet work can be found on Adderley's solo album Somethin' Else (also featuring Art Blakey and Hank Jones), which was recorded shortly after the two giants met. Adderley then played on the seminal Davis records Milestones  and  Kind of Blue. This period also overlapped with pianist Bill Evans' time with the sextet, an association that led to Evans appearing on Portrait of Cannonball  and Know What I Mean? 

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet featured Cannonball on alto sax and his brother Nat Adderley  on cornet. Cannonball's first quintet was not very successful; however, after leaving Davis' group, he formed another group again with his brother. The new quintet, which later became the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, and Cannonball's other combos and groups, included such noted musicians as saxophonists  Charles Lloyd and Yusef Lateef, pianists Bobby Timmons, Barry Harris, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul,  Hal Galper, Michael Wolff, and George Duke, bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones,  Walter Booker, and Victor Gaskin, and drummers  Louis Hayes and Roy McCurdy. 

Further information about Cannonball Adderley is found at cannonball-adderley.com.