Cannonball Adderley

To me, Cannonball Adderley embodies the sunlit side of jazz. A Florida-born alto saxophonist of the hard bop era, he played on landmark Miles Davis sessions, yet what I treasure most is 1966's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." That single dissolved the line between jazz, soul, and pop, and only a generous genius could pull it off. Losing him at forty-six in 1975 still feels like a theft. His tone was fat, warm, and welcoming, full of meticulous craft and irrepressible joy at once. Decades later it still loosens something in the chest, and that is the truest test of greatness.

Name (English)

Cannonball Adderley

Name (Japanese)

キャノンボール・アダレイ

Reading

きゃのんぼーる・あだれい

Born

September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Dragon

Origin

Tampa, Florida, United States

Occupation

bandleader / conductor / saxophonist / composer / jazz musician

High school

Dillard High School

University

Florida A&M University

Awards & achievements

• 1967 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album

• Official sitehttps://www.cannonball-adderley.com
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball%20Adderley
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%83%8E%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A2%E3%83%80%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110477

Tags

• Florida
• bandleader
• conductor
• saxophonist

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.