Tallahassee to rename music venue to honor jazz icons, the Adderley brothers
A brush with fame can be fleeting, but those who encountered the musical Adderley brothers from Tallahassee know it can lasting.
Acclaimed musicians Julian "Cannonball" and Nathaniel "Nat" Adderley will be honored by the City of Tallahassee at 3:30 p.m. Monday in a formal recognition of all the brothers contributed to the world of jazz with a ceremony for the newly named Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park.
Julian “Cannonball” and his brother Nat Adderley laid the foundation of their musical success in Tallahassee in the early 1940s after their parents accepted teaching positions at Florida A&M University.
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The brothers performed at popular venues like the Red Bird Café and El Dorado in Frenchtown, venues noted on the “Chitlin’ circuit,” sometimes performing with blues vocalist Ray Charles.
“Musicians would come mostly for the university and the reputation of the clubs in Frenchtown,” local jazz singer Fred Lee told the Tallahassee Democrat. Lee remembers his Lincoln High School civics teacher, J.C. Adderley, being visited at the school by his famous jazz musician sons, who would hang out in the band hall and play for the student body in the auditorium.
Music a part of the Adderley family’s DNA
The eldest brother Julian initially picked up the cornet from his father, but after discovering the alto saxophone, he passed the cornet on to his brother, Nat, who appreciated the underrated sound, said Alison Adderley, Nat Adderley’s daughter.
The Adderley name has produced generations with musical inclinations. The famous Adderley brothers’ uncle, Nathaniel C. Adderley, directed Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 band from 1910 to 1918, according to the band’s website. Their father, Julian C. Adderley, was a cornet player and would sometimes perform in bands around Tallahassee. Nat Adderley Jr., a scion of Tallahassee’s “first family of jazz,” is a nationally known pianist and music director.
The brothers’ early days were rooted in their connections at FAMU. The brothers graduated from FAMU’s high school and continued their education at the university. Cannonball studied band education, while Nat majored in sociology, with a minor in music. The brothers were members of the Marching 100 in the 1940s.
After Cannonball graduated in 1948 and Nat graduated in 1951, they moved from Tallahassee to pursue their careers. Cannonball went on to be a band director in Fort Lauderdale. In 1951 the brothers were drafted in the U.S. Army, but nothing could pull them away from the music. Cannonball led the 36th Army Dance Band and Nat performed alongside him, said Nat Adderley's daughter, Alison Adderley.
The Adderley brothers formed the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1956 after they moved to New York to focus on performing. A year later the group disbanded due to low publicity and the brothers sought out their own endeavors. Cannonball, who was more established in the music industry, joined the Miles Davis Quintet, performing on his most essential album, "Kind of Blue," alongside John Coltrane in 1959. Nat was working with Woody Herman and J.J. Johnson, two great musicians of their time.
In 1960 the Cannonball Adderley Quintet had regrouped and was more popular than ever. Their hit song “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” topped the jazz and soul charts in 1967.
Tallahassee honoring hometown music legends
One thing remained consistent with the brothers who enjoyed a successful career as internationally acclaimed musicians — their respect and fondness for Tallahassee.
At the annual MLK Day celebrations, the city will honor these Tallahassee icons by renaming the amphitheater at Cascades Park, the Adderley Amphitheater. In addition, a portion of Suwanee Street that runs behind the amphitheater will be renamed Adderley Way.
Scotty Barnhart, a Grammy award winning trumpeter, director of the Count Basie Orchestra and professor of jazz trumpet at Florida State University, enjoyed a close friendship with Nat Adderley after meeting him at his alma mater, FAMU.
As a Tallahassee native and a fan of the brothers, he presented the idea to honor the local celebrities with some prominent recognition.
“I realized there is not even a monument to the Adderley brothers and everyone knows the Adderley brothers came out of Tallahassee,” Barnhart said in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat.
“The commission thought it would be a fitting tribute to two of our hometown heroes to name the amphitheater and part of the street,” City Commissioner Curtis Richardson said of the unanimous vote in April 2022.
A gold and black plaque with their photo and a message of their legacy penned by Barnhart will be unveiled on a post adjacent to the stage.
After the unveiling, a musical tribute will grace the newly named venue playing hit songs like “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Work Song.” Performing live will be Barnhart, Longineu Parsons, Nat Adderley Jr., Brian Hall, Carlos Vega and Steve Fryson.
Musical powerhouses and mentors
Parsons, a close friend of Nat Adderley and an established jazz trumpeter, first met the brothers at FAMU in the 1960s when the brothers would frequently visit to meet students and host workshops. When they arrived on campus, Parsons eagerly wanted to be the first student to meet the brothers, and to his surprise, they already knew of him through his father who was also a musician.
Parsons’ brush with the brothers lasted longer than expected. After impressing the brothers with his talent, Parsons would travel to perform with the brothers often and be mentored by Nat Adderley.
“Nat was my spiritual and musical father,” Parsons, a professor of trumpet and composition at FAMU, said fondly of his mentor. “He was somebody to talk to about things and someone whose advice was always given lovingly.”
Parsons and Nat Adderley remained close until Adderley’s death in January 2000 in his home in Lakeland, Florida. Parsons is still close with his “chosen family” and performs tributes with Nat Jr., sometimes playing one of Nat Adderley’s cornets. Cannonball Adderley died in 1975.
A fitting honor
Alison Adderley said she is happy to see her uncle and father being honored in their own backyard. She and her brother (Nat Adderley Jr.) will attend the ceremony on behalf of the family.
“I don’t think it’s that their contributions haven’t been recognized but more that it hadn’t been formalized,” said Adderley, an economics professor at Valencia College in Orlando. “It is at a time when there is enough of us alive to know who they are.”
Though she is not a musician, she finds herself connected to music in a different way: her father’s love.
“Some people when their fathers pass away, don’t have any connection to them,” Adderley said, “I have the benefit of connecting with him through his music.”
Adderley Amphitheater naming ceremony
When: 3:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16
Where: Cascades Park
Parking: Parking lots surrounding Cascades Park
Contact Democrat writer Alaijah Brown at [email protected] and on Twitter at @BrownAlaijah.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Cascades Park Amphitheater to be renamed for Adderley brothers
