Darryl Tookes aims to amplify important role Tallahassee plays in music history

“There’s a time to dance, a time to sing,” quotes Darryl Tookes from the opening lines of his song “Forever Free.”

The song will set the stage for his “Arts-in-the-Heart” concert performance with the Javacya Elite Chamber Orchestra on Thursday, Feb. 24. Tookes will perform alongside his four children, Christian, Tessa, Channing, and Ryan. He felt the opening lyrics captured both the healing powers of live music and audiences’ longing for togetherness as theater spaces reopen their doors.

Things to do: Things to do in Tallahassee: Assemble for the Ecosound Ensemble, dig the Didgeriblues

Concert: 'Power to unify': Darryl Tookes returns with uplifting concert for Black History Month

Exhibit: 'Find yourself some good to do': Tallahassee 'Missionary' Mary Proctor paints joy

“When I wrote that all those years ago, we hadn’t experienced COVID-19, a two-year shutdown, or losing close friends and family,” notes Tookes. “It has a new meaning now.”

Music has always run deep in Tookes’ family roots. His maternal grandmother, Benveneta Washington was a Broadway star. His parents encouraged his interests in music from a young age, providing him with a piano to practice his gift — Tookes only has to hear something once to be able to replicate it. Now, he’s proud to share the stage with his children and their talents.

'Our first language'

“Music is our first language, it’s our primary language,” says Tookes. “I noticed with my children (when they were younger) when I’d play a simple melody for them and ask them to sing it back to me and they’d always sing it in the same key that I’d play it. That gave me a sense that there’s something primal and instinctual about music.”

With an illustrious career spanning more than three decades, Tookes was one of the first African-Americans to chart in the Adult Contemporary category of Billboard magazine.

He has worked with numerous industry icons including Quincy Jones, Leonard Bernstein, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Sting, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Ray Charles, Bobby McFerrin, Lionel Ritchie and Christina Aguilera, among many others. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the White House for Presidents Clinton and Obama.

Adderleys 'transformed modern music'

Currently, Tookes serves as the director of music industry studies in FAMU’s Department of Music. He’s a proud FAMU alumnus who grew up in Tallahassee while spending his summers in NYC.

For Tookes, Tallahassee sounds like the incomparable FAMU Marching 100. In his role at the university, he hopes to bring more of an awareness to just how large a role Tallahassee plays in music history — especially when it comes to local legends “Cannonball” and Nat Adderley.

“I don’t think Tallahassee has really understood the reach we have among us,” says Tookes. “People like the Adderley Brothers, along with John Coltrane and Miles Davis, completely transformed music. There’s no Jimi Hendrix or the Beatles without their influence. When they hit the scene together, they transformed modern music. One thing I hope to do in my time here is to get us to start realizing what we have, our resources, and who we are.”

Songwriting at FAMU

As part of this initiative, Tookes was instrumental in authoring and establishing the first songwriting course for the state system at FAMU.

Titled, “The Art and Craft of Songwriting,” Tookes strives to share his brand of creative process with students. He lectures on saying yes “honestly with authenticity” and rising to composer Stephen Sondheim’s challenge to dedicate time to getting a lyric right.

Tookes has taught Voice at New York University in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and Tisch School of the Arts, been a Lecturer in Music at The State University of New York at Purchase College, and taught on Voice Faculty at Fairfield University. He was the founding Musical Director of “Black to Broadway,” presenting Tony winners Melba Moore, Jennifer Holiday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Billy Porter.

Every morning, Tookes sets out to fulfill his own artistic challenges, in line with mentor Miles Davis who asked, “what can I do with my life today that is creative?” Sometimes that means spending hours at his own grand piano practicing or working with students on growing their compositions and talents.

'Getting it honest'

“It’s not about getting it right, it’s about getting it honest,” says Tookes. “You can teach people a lot of things, but whatever part of it that’s a gift comes with a lot of responsibility to develop it, protect it, and share it. In my case, every single song I perform has evolved over the years in meaningful ways.”

Tookes is looking forward to taking yet another step in his ever-evolving musical journey and sharing the stage with both the Javacya Orchestra and his loved ones.

He is hopeful that audience members will leave the concert with new questions and allow themselves the comfort and freedom to be uplifted. At his daughter Tessa’s request, he will play Nino Rota’s “Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet” during his solo piano set.

“Rota posed the question of the artist’s dilemma…how do we do this when I see war all around me?” says Tookes, who explains how Rota wrote and played during the height of World War II. “You know you can either ignore it, or lean into it, and shine some light in the world everywhere you go as much as you can. We do it because we do it. This is who we are. We must.”

If you go

What: Darryl Tookes & Family in Concert

When: 7-8:30 .pm. on Thursday, Feb. 24

Where: St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, 4784 Thomasville Road

Cost: Free, donations accepted

Contact: For more information, visit javacyaarts.com

Amanda Sieradzki is the feature writer for the Council on Culture & Arts. COCA is the capital area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (www.tallahasseearts.org).

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: At FAMU, Tookes aims to amplify Tallahassee's role in music history