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 Ch ...

'', 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 on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, 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 ...

. Gumbs' mother was from

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a 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 roughly of coastline. It is n ...

, 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 terr ...

). As a child, Gumbs was fascinated by the film and television music of Henry Mancini. Gumbs graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia, 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, to whom Onaje gave a demo tape. The following day, Gumbs received a call to play with Burrell at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in

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 t ...

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

The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was a jazz big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis in New York in 1965.Lisik/Allen. 50 Years at the Village Vanguard:Thad Jone, Mel Lewis and the Village Vanguard Orchestra. Sky Deck ...

. 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 Sou ...

. 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, Angela Bofill and Jeffrey Osborne. Later in his career he worked extensively with Ronald Shannon Jackson, 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 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, 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 *'' Don't Look Back'' (SteepleChase, 1976) *''

Hummin' ''Hummin is an album by jazz cornetist Nat Adderley recorded in 1976 and released on the Dutch Little David label.T. K. Blue *''Follow the North Star'' (JaJa, 2008) With

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inte ...

*''

The Betty Carter Album ''The Betty Carter Album'' is a 1976 album by Betty Carter. It is unique among her albums in its use of overdubbing on some tracks to allow her to record multiple vocal lines. It was also her first album for which she wrote the majority of the so ...

'' (Bet-Car Productions, 1976) With Norman Connors *'' Dark of Light'' *'' Love from the Sun'' *'' Saturday Night Special'' *'' You Are My Starship'' *'' Invitation'' *'' Mr. C'' *'' Eternity'' With Carlos Garnett *'' Black Love'' (Muse, 1974) With Toninho Horta *'' Moonstone'' (Verve Forecast, 1989) *'' Foot On The Road'' (Verve, 1994) With Ronald Shannon Jackson *'' Decode Yourself'' (Island, 1985) With

Bennie Maupin Bennie Maupin (born August 29, 1940) is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet. Maupin was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He is known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandi ...

*'' Slow Traffic to the Right'' *'' Moonscapes'' With

Cecil McBee Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums. Biography Early life and career McBee was born in Tu ...

*'' Mutima'' (Strata-East, 1974) With Mark Mosley *''TLC'' (Mark Mosley, 2012) With Avery Sharpe *''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'' (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 Records, Columbia label.

'' (Columbia, 1979) With

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 Cre ...

*'' 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