Onaje Allen Gumbs
| Onaje Allan Gumbs | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Allan Bentley Gumbs |
| Born |
September 3, 1949 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Bebop, hard bop, soul jazz, smooth jazz, fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, lyricist |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | 18th and Vine, Ejano |
| Associated acts | Obba Babatundé, Woody Shaw, Nat Adderley, Kenny Burrell, Buster Williams, Stanley Jordan, Angela Bofill, Betty Carter, Grady Tate, Jeffrey Osborne, Deneice Williams, Norman Connors, Sathima Bea Benjamin |
| Website | onajeallangumbs.com |
Onaje Allan Gumbs (born Allan Bentley Gumbs, September 3, 1949) is a New York-based pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Onaje was born in Harlem, grew up in St. Albans, Queens, and started playing piano at age 7. Henry Mancini was one of his earliest and greatest influences from watching the TV shows "Peter Gunn" and "Mr Lucky" at age 8. Later, he studied at the Music and Art High School in Manhattan and was introduced by a classmate, Carl "Skip" Kirkland, to his father Leroy Kirkland, who had played with the Erskine Hawkins band, and who would come to mentor Onaje. He went on to study classical piano, composition, arranging and graduated with a degree in Education at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
In 1971, Leroy Kirkland introduced Onaje to the Detroit guitarist Kenny Burrell, to whom Onaje gave a demo tape. The following day, Onaje received a call to play with Burrell at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. This work led to further performances with major jazz musicians such as bassist Larry Ridley as well as The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra. During those early 1970s, Onaje replaced Nat Adderley, Jr. in a contemporary jazz ensemble called Natural Essence. At that time in the course of two years, some of the personnel of this group included drummer Buddy Williams, bassist Alex Blake, trombonist Earl McIntyre and on percussion, T. S. Monk.
Onaje contributed to the albums of Norman Connors, Dark of Light, Love from the Sun,Saturday Night Special,You Are My Starship, Invitation, Mr C and Eternity. Onaje's sideman work soon included stints with Buster Williams, Cecil McBee, and Betty Carter. Toward the late 1970s, Onaje spent two years working in Woody Shaw's band as pianist, arranger, and occasional composer, including the albums Rosewood, Steppin Stones and Woody III. During this time, the group won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for Best Jazz Group and for Best Jazz Album in 1978 for Rosewood. On the Norman Connors You Are My Starship album, Onaje arranged and played keyboards on the tune "Betcha By Golly Wow". His most recent sideman role was Avery Sharpe's 2012 album Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman.
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