Bloodlife: Solo Piano Inspirations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson

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Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson
Live album by Onaje Allan Gumbs

Publication
(s)

2013

Label (s) Ejano Music

Format (s)

Download

Genre (s)

Modern jazz , post bop

occupation
  • Piano : Onaje Allan Gumbs
chronology
Remember Their Innocence
(2005) 		Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson -

Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson is a jazz album by Onaje Allan Gumbs . The recordings, which were probably made in the 1980s, were released on Ejano Music in 2013.

background

Best known was the pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs, who died in April 2020, for his work with Woody Shaw on his classic albums such as The Moontrane (Muse, 1975) and Stepping Stones (Columbia, 1978). It may come as a surprise, according to critic John Kelman, that Gumbs was not only a friend and mentor of the drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson , he also played on his Decode Yourself (Island, 1985) - an album that was made for Gumbs, like much of Jacksons Decoding Society work and Ornette Coleman's harmonious Prime Time group, which was the starting point for his own innovations, Kelman wrote.

If Jackson's Decoding Society got Gumbs a lot of attention, Kelman continued, "He had other things to say, too." Ronald Shannon Jackson's album Pulse (Celluloid, 1984) was mostly about Jackson's drums and poetry, but also featured an unexpectedly lyrical finish, "Lullabye for Mother," a track performed by Gumbs alone on the piano. As a result, producer David Breskin asked Gumbs the following year to record solo piano improvisations based on Jackson's melodies. These linear melodies, composed on the flute, gave Gumbs the opportunity to expand them harmonically and use them as contexts for further improvisational exploration. Between Jackson's material “there are moments of changes-intense bop centricities in“ Freedom of Spirit ”and gospel hints in“ Rising to the Occasion ”, two original gumbs improvisations that were created and selected during the recording sessions”.

However, these improvisations were not yet released at the time of their creation, but when Jackson lost his battle with leukemia in October 2013 , Gumbs decided to only release these recordings in download form on his Ejano Music label, on which he had Remembered as early as 2005 Their Innocence had issued.

Track list

Ronald Shannon Jackson at the moers festival 2011
  • Onaje Allan Gumbs: Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson ()
  1. Lullaby for Mothers (Good Morning) 3:01
  2. Freedom of Spirit (Gumbs) 4:41
  3. Rising to the Occasion (Gumbs) 5:06
  4. Bloodlife 4:48
  5. Dialogue of Angels 4:28
  6. Lydia 3:44
  7. Theme for a Prince 2:44
  8. School 6:21
  9. Our Inner Voice 5:34
  10. Tales of Entropy 2 5:17
  11. San Francisco 4:33
  12. Behind Plastic Faces 5:06
  13. Rising to the Occasion (Reprise) (Gumbs) 3:22
  14. Lullaby for Mothers (Good Night) 2:14
  • All other compositions are by Ronald Shannon Jackson.

reception

In its obituary for Onaje Allan Gumbs, the Down Beat highlighted his Jackson homage and wrote, with Bloodlife , Gumbs showed the breadth of his influences and the range of his artistic expression.

According to John Kelman, who reviewed the album on All About Jazz and awarded it four out of five stars, Bloodlife reveals as much about Ronald Shannon Jackson as it does about the unjustifiably overlooked Gumbs, who had been in R&B in previous years. Contexts, but still sharpened his jazz skills with bassist Avery Sharpe on albums like Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman (2012). Solo piano recordings are always a challenge, Kelman continued; apart from artists like Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett , who seem to have leased the title, it simply exposes the performer, who has nowhere to hide. It is “no surprise that Gumbs took up the challenge. That he did this almost 30 years ago may be a good thing. We'll never know what could have been if Bloodlife had been released back then, but it's good enough that it finally sees the light of day as a posthumous tribute to a lost friend. ”The heartfelt tribute doesn't just illuminate an artist who has long deserved greater recognition, according to Kelman, but also vividly reminds us of another who left his mortal shell much too early at the age of 73.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Onaje Allan Gumbs: Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson. All About Jazz, April 16, 2014, accessed April 9, 2020 .
  2. ↑ [Onaje Allan Gumbs: Bloodlife: Solo Piano Improvisations Based on the Melodies of Ronald Shannon Jackson at Discogs]
  3. ↑ In Memoriam: Onaje Allan Gumbs. Down Beat, April 8, 2020, accessed April 9, 2020 .