AAJ Review, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Bloodlife

[jkelman]

My review of pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs' Bloodlife, today at All About Jazz.

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 own innovations.

If Jackson's Decoding Society garnered him the most attention, he had other things to say as well. Pulse (Celluloid, 1984) revolved largely around Jackson's drums and poetry, but also featured an unexpectedly lyrical closer, "Lullabye for Mother," performed by Gumbs alone on piano. Even less known is that producer David Breskin asked Gumbs, the following year, to make a record of solo piano improvisations based around Jackson's melodies. Composed on flute, these linear melodies afforded Gumb the opportunity to expand them harmonically and use them as contexts for further improvisational exploration.

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[wideopenears]

This is a bit off the beaten track, I'm sure, but it sounds really interesting, John. I'm a fan of Shannon Jackson, will check this one out!

[jkelman]

This is a bit off the beaten track, I'm sure, but it sounds really interesting, John. I'm a fan of Shannon Jackson, will check this one out!

It's very off the beaten path for fans of Jackson....largely melody-focused, Onaje played it for, Jackson when he was in the hospital, 13 day before his death, and he told Onaje that 'you took something great and made it magnificent!'

They were close friends to the end, and that was certainly a lovely endorsement.
John