January 3, 2000
Web posted at: 5:16 a.m. EST (1016 GMT)

LAKELAND, Florida (CNN) -- Jazz cornetist and composer Nat Adderley, the creator of "Jazz Samba" and "Work Song," died Sunday of kidney failure caused by diabetes. He was 68.

The International Jazz Hall of Famer performed on more than 100 records, many of them with his older brother, saxophone giant Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. After Cannonball's death in 1975, Nat Adderley took over leadership of his brother's quintet.

Born in Tampa, Florida, on November 25, 1931, Adderley began playing trumpet as a teen-ager and performed with local groups until switching to cornet in 1950. He worked with Lionel Hampton's band from 1954 to 1955 before joining his brother's group in 1956. Adderley also played as a sideman with Woody Herman and J.J. Johnson, and frequently led many sessions of his own.

Adderley's brass style is often compared with Miles Davis, with influences from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie. His style was "straight-ahead bebop," said his daughter, Alison. "No play, no jive."

He had lived in Lakeland for the past 24 years, but was mostly inactive since 1997, when one of his legs was amputated as a result of diabetes complications.

In addition to his daughter, Adderley leaves a wife and son, Nat Jr., who is the musical director for singer Luther Vandross.