Rafael Ithier Natal[1] (born August 29, 1926) is a Puerto Rican salsa musician and the founder of the highly successful orchestra El Gran Combo.

[4] Raised in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, he showed a passion for music at a very young age.

[4] While stationed in Korea he formed a music group entitled the Los Borinquena Mambo Boys.

[5] Ithier Nadal became an expert guitarist in the bolero genre, and he was a member of the Tito Henriquez group, Taone.

Ithier Nadal and his namesake, Rafael Cortijo, knew each other and formed a friendship at an early age; rumors of animosity would later surface but they both denied it, saying they considered themselves to be "like brothers."