Remembering and celebrating the late James Mtume through his extensive imprint on hip-hop and r&b over the last 30 years.
Last night, the music world lost another giant in the passing of James Mtume. Though a cause was not revealed, his son, Faulu, confirmed the death. Mtume was 76-years-old.

The son of jazz legend, Jimmy Heath (who passed almost exactly two years ago,) and raised by pianist James “Hen Gates” Forman, Mtume enjoyed a rare upbringing amongst pioneering players. Forman, a regular in Charlie Parker’s band, would often host sessions with bebop and post-bop greats. “Just imagine, you’re nine, ten years old and there’s Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins,” Mtume recounted in a 2014 interview with Red Bull Music Academy.

In 1969, Mtume, already a skilled pianist and percussionist in his own right, began a recording career as a session player alongside Don Cherry, Herbie Hancock, and his father, on his uncle Albert “Tootie” Heath’s Kawaida. Between 1971 and 1975, Mtume joined Miles Davis‘ ensemble, was featured in the On The Corner sessions, and contributed to projects from Pharoah Sanders, Ramsey Lewis, Gato Barbieri, Lonnie Liston Smith, and a slew of other spiritual jazz forefathers. During this period, Mtume also formed the Mtume Umoja Ensemble and released the album, Land of the Blacks, via Strata East in 1972.

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