Cannonball Adderley

JULIAN "CANNONBALL" ADDERLEY d1975. American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. He 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. A cover version by the Buckinghams (who added lyrics) also reached No5 on the charts. He 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. He died in Indiana on August 8th 1975 after a stroke aged just 46