From now on, Florida A&M University’s Institute for Research in Music and Entertainment Industry Studies will be known as The Julian “Cannonball” and Nat Adderley Music Institute.
The honorary naming on behalf of the jazz greats was approved by FAMU’s Board of Trustees during a unanimous vote Thursday.
After hearing the good news, Alison Adderley — Nat Adderley’s daughter — said she was thrilled.
“I’m not sure I’m composed right now, actually,” Adderley, an economics professor at Valencia College in Orlando, told the Tallahassee Democrat in a phone interview. “This is a really wonderful thing and a great honor to two men whom I absolutely adore.”
The decision follows the City of Tallahassee’s recent renaming of its local music venue, the Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park, in January this year.
Tallahassee has also honored the icons by renaming a portion of Suwanee Street to Adderley Way and recognizing April 10 as “Nat and Cannonball Adderley Day” in 2022.
“They were some brilliant, outstanding pioneers and innovators in music, so it’s an honor for us to have the opportunity to name the program after them,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said after the Thursday meeting.
More on the Adderley brothers: Tallahassee to rename music venue to honor jazz icons, the Adderley brothers
He also shared the significance of the music institute being the first program on the university’s campus with an honorary naming.
“It probably won’t be the last, but I think we set a high bar with naming this one after the Adderleys,” Robinson said. “They have been so impactful in music not just here, but throughout their careers in the places they’ve gone.”
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.
Other FAMU news: ‘City of Music’: FAMU Concert Choir goes on performance tour in Vienna, Austria
Eldest brother Cannonball was known for playing the alto saxophone while Nat played the cornet.
The legends performed at popular venues such as Red Bird Café and El Dorado in Frenchtown and would sometimes perform with Ray Charles.
“All of these things that are happening to honor daddy and Cannon are so timely to me and my family,” Adderley said. “The time is now to truly appreciate who they were, what they did and how much they contributed to their individual communities, the jazz community and the music world.”
“They both adored FAMU, and I think this would mean so much to them,” she added.
As internationally celebrated musicians, the brothers became more popular than ever after forming the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, and 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,” with their primary sound being soul jazz.
“The unrivaled musical legacy of the Adderley brothers could not possibly be recognized in a more fitting location than here at Florida A&M University, where they received their training,” FAMU Music Business Professor Darryl Tookes, who is also the university’s Music Industry Studies director, told Robinson in an October letter in regards to the renaming.
Bringing the legacy of Nat and Cannonball Adderley home to FAMU means making room for more fundraising, recruitment, scholarships, community engagement and international recognition for the institute, according to the FAMU Department of Music’s objectives related to the renaming.
“It’s going to be a paradigm shift to see change and improvement for us in terms of how people will look at our program,” Tookes told the Democrat. “It’s not just the music industry program, but it’s The Julian ‘Cannonball’ and Nat Adderley Music Institute. That is just so powerful. They’re loved everywhere.”
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
