Julian "Cannonball" and Nat Adderley were two brothers that became prominent jazz
and blues musicians of the twentieth century. Playing alto saxophone and cornet respectively,
they both had significant success playing in their own band as well as with major
jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
While living in Tallahassee in the 1940s, they played with Ray Charles who also lived
in the area at the time.
Born in Tampa in 1928, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley picked up the alto saxophone. Moving to Tallahassee with his parents during his high school years, Cannonball eventually attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee to study band education. Graduating in 1948, he then worked as a band director in the Fort Lauderdale school district.
Nat Adderley, the younger of the brothers, began as a trumpet player, an instrument passed down by his father. Born in Tampa in 1931, he moved to Tallahassee with his family while still in grade school. Later, he also attended Florida A&M University, initially focusing his studies in the field of sociology with a minor in music. Towards the end of his college career, he changed his instrumental focus to the cornet and never looked back.