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Jazz Articles about Onaje Allan Gumbs
Onaje Allan Gumbs: Dare To Dream
by La-Faithia White
Onaje Allan Gumbs is a New York based pianist, composer, lyricist, and bandleader. Gumbs' professional career began in 1971 when Leroy Kirkland introduced him to Kenny Burrell, by sharing a demo tape. The next day Gumbs received a phone call to play with Burrell at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. Onaje, (Gumbs) talks about the beginnings of his musical career, and the various artists, some who became friends, that he has collaborated with throughout those years. These artists have inspired ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson
by John Kelman
Best known for his mainstream work with Woody Shaw on classic albums like The Moontrane (Muse, 1975) and Stepping Stones (Columbia, 1978), it may come as a surprise to learn that pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs was not just a friend and mentor to Ronald Shannon Jackson, but that he also played on the drummer's Decode Yourself (Island, 1985)--an album that, like much of Jackson's Decoding Society work, took Ornette Coleman's harmolodic Prime Time group as a starting point for his ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Sack Full of Dreams
by John Kelman
The term “journeyman musician" is an often misunderstood and unjustly maligned one. Rather than its “jack of all trades, master of none" connotation, in the sphere of music it more often refers to artists who seamlessly straddle multiple genres while retaining their individual voices no matter what the style. Pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs may well be the definitive journeyman musician, having worked with everyone from Woody Shaw to Gerald Albright and Ronald Shannon Jackson. His own records have been equally ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Music Heard, and Felt
by R.J. DeLuke
“I recently did it on a gig and one of the patrons told me, in her words, she was 'messed up.' It affected her. I gave a little intro into where the song is coming from. The band got into it. I finished the tune. Went through a whole bunch of other songs. When I got off the stage, she grabbed my hand and said, 'Onaje, I just want you to know I'm kind of messed up by that song.' ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Music, The Rhythm of Life
by AAJ Staff
By Onaje Allan Gumbs This music we call “jazz" has represented the essence of who we are and who we can become. Music has always been the soundtrack to my life; from the time I was three, I could sing all of the lyrics to the old Eddie Fisher song “Oh My Papa" before I could even say a full sentence. And since becoming a professional musician, I have come to realize the positive effect that my ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Remember Their Innocence
by William Grim
In our adult-denigrating society, I always cringe whenever I encounter an album that's “for the children." Like books in which the authors claim that part of the proceeds will be donated to charity, it's a certain bet that the there is some defect that the producers are hoping the patina of good will and charity will obviate and make “critic-proof." That is certainly the case here, for this album is a compilation of mostly banal smooth jazz ditties that dull ...
read moreOnaje Allan Gumbs: Remember Their Innocence
by Jerry D'Souza
Onaje Allan Gumbs took his wide experiences as a musician into the studio for his latest recording and came up with a winning combination in Remember Their Innocence. There is strong testimony to his passion for jazz, just as there is for the blues, some soul, a Brazilian tune, and a bit of what is known as contemporary jazz. The last category is not watered down by the hose of blandness, instead elevated by the soulful Dennis Collins, whose remarkable ...
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