Onaje Allan Gumbs (born Allan Bentley Gumbs, September 3, 1949 – April 6, 2020)"In Memoriam: Onaje Allan Gumbs"
''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020. was a New York-based pianist, composer, and bandleader.

Early life and career

Gumbs was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, a neighborhood in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to parents who had immigrated to the United States from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Gumbs' mother was from

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, while his father, a New York City police officer, was from

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...

). As a child, Gumbs was fascinated by the film and television music of

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

. Gumbs graduated from the

State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (SUNY Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York, United States. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the sixty-sixth-oldest institute o ...

, and during his years there was a member of a student-organized jazz ensemble. In 1971,

Leroy Kirkland Leroy E. Kirkland (February 10, 1904 or 1906 – April 6, 1988) was an American arranger, bandleader, guitarist and songwriter whose career spanned the eras of big band jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul. Life and career Born in Columbia, South Ca ...

introduced Gumbs to the Detroit guitarist

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

, to whom Onaje gave a demo tape. The following day, Gumbs received a call to play with Burrell at

Baker's Keyboard Lounge Baker's Keyboard Lounge is a jazz club located at 20510 Livernois Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in May 1933 and is the oldest continuously operated jazz club in Detroit. History Early History In 1933 Chris and Fannie Baker opened ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. This work led to further performances with major jazz musicians such as bassist

Larry Ridley Larry Ridley (born September 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist and music educator. Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Ridley was born and reared in Indianapolis, Indiana. He began performing professionally while still in high school in the 1950s ...

as well as The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra. During the early 1970s, Gumbs replaced Nat Adderley, Jr. in a contemporary jazz ensemble called Natural Essence, which included during these years Buddy Williams and

T. S. Monk Thelonious Sphere "T. S." Monk III (born December 27, 1949) is an American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader. He is the son of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Biography Born in New York City, he began his music career early in his life, honin ...

(drums and percussion), bassist Alex Blake, and trombonist Earl McIntyre. Gumbs adopted the name Onaje in the early 1970s; it means "the sensitive one". He met his future wife, Sandra Wright, in 1971 during a short teaching engagement he took in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. The two wed later in the decade and remained married until Gumbs' death in 2020. In the late 1970s, Gumbs recorded with

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...

and worked as musical director for R&B singer

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman is best known for her music during the late 1970s through the early 1990s, some of her most notable songs were "You Know How to Love Me" ...

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, "This Time I'll Be Sweet ...

and

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. Biography Earl ...

. Later in his career he worked extensively with

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

, and in 2013, following Jackson's death, Gumbs recorded a solo piano album consisting of improvisations on Jackson's compositions. Later in his life, he taught at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan and the Litchfield Jazz Camp in Connecticut. "His association with the

New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is the second conservatory of The New School. It is located on West 13th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. It was known as The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music before it wa ...

in New York and his work with the Litchfield Jazz Camp in New Milford, Conn., allowed him to expand his vision and shape young minds."

Later life

On January 24, 2010, Gumbs suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for two days. In December of that year, he released an album in Japan entitled ''Just Like Yesterday''. On the album, he was accompanied by

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate ...

, Victor Bailey, Marcus McLaurine, William S. Patterson and Chuggy Carter. Any visible signs of the stroke had since vanished. In February 2015, he was hospitalized for two weeks, though he was able to recover and return to composing and performance. Onaje Allan Gumbs died on April 6, 2020, aged 70.

Discography

As leader

Main source:

As sideman

With

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition ...

*'' Don't Look Back'' (SteepleChase, 1976) *'' Hummin''' (Little David, 1976) With

T. K. Blue T. K. Blue (also known as Talib Kibwe, born Eugene Rhynie, February 7, 1953)TK Blue Artist Profile
Motéma Mu ...

*''Follow the North Star'' (JaJa, 2008) With Betty Carter *'' The Betty Carter Album'' (Bet-Car Productions, 1976) With

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is pos ...

*'' Dark of Light'' *''

Love from the Sun Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'' *''

Saturday Night Special Saturday night special is a colloquial term in the United States and Canada for inexpensive, compact, small-caliber handguns made of poor quality metal. Sometimes known as junk guns, some states define these guns by means of composition or mate ...

'' *''

You Are My Starship ''You Are My Starship '' is an album by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jazz drummer Norman Connors. Released in 1976 on Buddah Records, it featured bass player/vocalist Michael Henderson and Philadelphia vocalist Phyllis Hyman. The album reache ...

'' *'' Invitation'' *''

Mr. C Richard West (born 2 January 1965), known as Mr. C, is an English house music DJ, producer and rapper. He was the resident DJ at the early acid house "RIP" nights at Clink Street, London, and later was the co-owner/co-founder of London's The En ...

'' *''

Eternity Eternity, in common parlance, means Infinity, infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas ...

'' With

Carlos Garnett Carlos Garnett (born December 1, 1938) is a Panamanian-American jazz saxophonist. Biography Garnett was born on December 1, 1938, in Red Tank, Panama Canal Zone. He was interested in jazz after hearing the music of Louis Jordan and James Mood ...

*''

Black Love Black is a color which results from the absence or complete Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of visible spectrum, visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or fi ...

'' (Muse, 1974) With

Toninho Horta Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo (born December 2, 1948) is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist. In addition to composing and performing his own work, Horta has worked for many years as arranger or sideman for Brazilian artists such as El ...

*'' Moonstone'' (Verve Forecast, 1989) *'' Foot On The Road'' (Verve, 1994) With

*''

Decode Yourself ''Decode Yourself'' is an album by Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, recorded in 1985 for the Island Records, Island label. Critical reception The AllMusic review by Stephen Cook stated: "The range of styles found on drummer Ronald ...

'' (Island, 1985) With Bennie Maupin *'' Slow Traffic to the Right'' *'' Moonscapes'' With Cecil McBee *'' Mutima'' (Strata-East, 1974) With Mark Mosley *''TLC'' (Mark Mosley, 2012) With

Avery Sharpe Avery Sharpe (born August 23, 1954) is an American jazz double-bassist, electric bassist, composer, educator and founder of the artist-owned record label, JKNM Records. Sharpe has a distinguished percussive and rhythmic approach on double bass. ...

*''Running Man'' (JKNM, 2011) *''Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman'' (JKNM, 2013) With

*''

The Moontrane ''The Moontrane'' is the third album led by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1974 and released on the Muse label.Rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...

'' (Columbia, 1977) *'' Stepping Stones: Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Columbia, 1978) *''

Woody III ''Woody III'' is an album by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1979 (with one live track from 1978) and released on the Columbia label.John Stubblefield John Stubblefield (February 4, 1945 – July 4, 2005) was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and oboist. Early life Stubblefield was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied music at the Association for the Advancement of Crea ...

*'' Prelude'' (Storyville, 1978) With Charles Sullivan *''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'' (Strata-East, 1974) With Lenny White *'' Venusian Summer'' *'' Big City''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gumbs, Onaje Allan 1949 births 2020 deaths Jazz fusion pianists Post-bop pianists Hard bop pianists Jazz-funk pianists Modal jazz pianists American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists 20th-century classical composers Songwriters from New York (state) American funk musicians SteepleChase Records artists Musicians from Queens, New York 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American people of Montserratian descent American people of Anguillan descent 20th-century jazz composers American male songwriters