FAMU will host jazz concert to honor new Julian and Nat Adderley Music Institute unveiling

Florida A&M University is setting an atmosphere filled with soulful sounds of the blues with a jazz concert Thursday to celebrate the honorary naming of its Julian “Cannonball” and Nat Adderley Music Institute.

The ticketed musical celebration at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at FAMU’s Lee Hall Auditorium is open to the public and will have performances by the university’s Jazz Ensemble, featuring Nat Adderley Jr. and other special guests.

“Let’s make this a joyous celebration and fill Lee Hall Auditorium to capacity for an outstanding evening of music,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said in an invitation to members of the Adderley family.

The jazz concert will follow a ribbon-cutting at 5 p.m. and a reception at 5:30 p.m., also open to the public, in the university’s Foster-Tanner Music Building for an unveiling of the new institute.

FAMU’s Board of Trustees approved Julian “Cannonball” and Nat Adderley Music Institute as the program’s new name during a December meeting — a move that marked the university’s first time in history of naming an academic program after specific individuals.

Related news: Florida A&M names music institute after Julian ‘Cannonball’ and Nat Adderley

The goal of the music institute is to elevate the program to international recognition as a place of training for future generations of individuals in the music industry, from musicians and executives to recording engineers and songwriters.

“This is a very fitting thing to do, and it's long overdue for us to honor Cannonball and Nat Adderley,” FAMU Band Arranger Lindsey Sarjeant said.

Sarjeant, who is also a professor of music and chairman of FAMU’s Department of Music, added that he played a role in a previous initiative that renamed Cascades Park Amphitheater the Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park in January 2023.

The Adderley brothers moved to Tallahassee in the 1940s when their parents began teaching at FAMU. After graduating from FAMU’s high school, the brothers attended the HBCU (historically Black college or university) — with Cannonball studying band education and Nat studying sociology with a minor in music — while also becoming members of the Marching 100 band.

While eldest brother Cannonball was known for playing the alto saxophone, Nat played the cornet.

The internationally celebrated musicians became more popular than ever after forming the Cannonball Adderley Quintet with a primary sound of soul jazz. Their hit song “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” topped the jazz and soul charts in 1967.

Some of the brothers’ other hits include "This Here," "Work Song," "The Jive Samba" and "Walk Tall.”

FAMU Music Business Professor Darryl Tookes — also the university’s Music Industry Studies director — played a key role in pushing for the institute’s new name to become a reality.

In his proposal, he wrote that “The Adderley brothers’ contribution to music of the modern era is unsurpassed. From their interpretation of the Great American Songbook, Jazz standards, Showtunes from the Golden Age of Broadway, to their irresistible pop/R&B Grammy Award winning smash hit ‘Mercy Mercy,’ the Adderley name is synonymous with musical excellence and social progress.”

A lot of the music set to be featured in the Thursday concert will be from the writings of the Adderley brothers, according to FAMU Jazz Ensemble Director and Professor Robert Griffin.

“One thing about it that is really historically significant is that Cannonball and Nat were both members of the band at FAMU, so we're honoring them on this particular turf as the music program,” Griffin told the Democrat.

Tickets for FAMU’s jazz concert can be purchased on Eventbrite, where general admission tickets are $20 and student admission tickets are $5.

Individuals can park at the lot by the Will Packer Performing Arts Amphitheater. A FAMU shuttle will be available to transport people from the parking lot to the Foster-Tanner Music Building for the ribbon-cutting and reception ahead of the concert.

Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU concert to honor Adderley brothers after music institute renaming