Tallahassee continues to celebrate its "first family of jazz." A tribute concert to the music of Cannonball and Nat Adderley took place Sunday evening on the lawn of the family's home church near FAMU.
Longineau Parsons and his quintet played some of the Adderley's best known tunes, such as "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "The Work Song."
Parsons, playing Nat Adderley's own cornet, said the brothers brought an unmistakable North Florida swamp feel to even their most sophisticated jazz improvisations.
"It's got this feeling that when you listen to it, you just want to swing and groove and it feels good also. They didn't lose the essence of the music, because the music needs to feel good."
For many years, the Adderleys lived in Tallahassee, which recently celebrated their memory by naming a street and the Cascades Park Amphitheatre in their honor.
