James Mtume (1946-2022) American Musician

James Mtume (1946-2022) American jazz Musician and R&B musician, songwriter, record producer, activist, and radio personality dies at 9 January 2022 (76 years)

Name	James Mtume
Full Name	James Forman
Age	76 Years
Birth	3 January 1946
Birthplace	Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania,United States
Death	9 January 2022
Deathplace
Profession	Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, radio personality, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, percussionist, piano, keyboards, sampler, drums, guitar, bass guitar
Music groups	Mtume (1978 – 1986), The Players Association, Heath Brothers
Burial	Burial Details Unknown
Nationality	American

James Mtume American Musician (1946-2022)

He was responsible for all-time classics in both soul and jazz. A multi-instrumentalist, over the course of the 70s, he worked with many of the jazz greats of the time, from Miles Davis to Gato Barbieri to McCoy Tyner.

His fame increased dramatically when he began to focus more on songwriting and production for R&B artists, alongside frequent collaborator Reggie Lucas.

Their song “Never Knew Love Like This Before” was a monster for Stephanie Mills, and opened the door for production work for The Spinners, Phyllis Hyman, Teddy Pendergrass and many more.

It also won a Grammy Award. Another product, 1977’s “The Closer I Get To You,” turned into a #1 smash for Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, becoming Hathaway’s last big hit. 1994, he gained recognition after having his hit single “Juicy Fruit” sampled by many hip-hop artists, most notably by the Notorious B.I.G. “Juicy.”

In his later years, he became a frequent public speaker, and hosted a popular radio show in New York that touched on important issues of the day.

James Mtume Biography

James Mtume Early life and career

Forman was born and raised in South Philadelphia. He was the son of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath, but was raised by his stepfather, a Philadelphia local jazz pianist, James “Hen Gates” Forman.

Mtume grew up in a musical environment with jazz musicians frequenting his parents’ house. He learned to play piano and percussion; however, from his teenage years he was pursuing athletics as a swimmer, having achieved the title of the first black Middle Atlantic AAU champion in the backstroke, and in 1966 he entered Pasadena City College on a swimming scholarship.

In 1966, Mtume joined the US Organization, a Black empowerment group founded by Hakim Jamal and Maulana Karenga, while a student at Pasadena City College. Mtume received his name, which means “messenger” in Swahili, from Karenga who gave members of the organization names to match their personality traits. He was part of that group that celebrated the first Kwanzaa in 1966. In 1967 he co-edited The Quotable Karenga with Clyde Halisi, which has been called “the best expression of Karenga’s ideas”. Mtume left the US Organisation in 1969.

Mtume made two albums, Kawaida and Alekebulan: Land of the Blacks, intended to merge jazz and cultural identity. Kawaida, which was recorded in December 1969, was Mtume’s professional debut. He contributed four out of five compositions and was credited with naming the album which means “norm” in Swahili and represented the practice and philosophy of pan-African identity. Performers on the album included Don Cherry, Herbie Hancock, Biily Bonner and his uncle Albert Heath.

After his return from the West Coast he moved to New York and had his first gigs as a sideman for McCoy Tyner (Asante album), Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, whose group he wound up joining and playing in for the next few years.

He and Mtume band member, fellow musician Reggie Lucas both won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for writing and producing fellow R&B artist Stephanie Mills’ top-ten hit “Never Knew Love Like This Before”, for which she also won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

He also worked as a session musician with Players Association, and did on-air radio personality work at New York City’s KISS 98.7 FM. As a songwriter, Mtume wrote hits for various artists such as Phyllis Hyman, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Stephanie Mills, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, Teddy Pendergrass, Inner City, as well as being lead songwriter for his own band Mtume.

In July 2018, Mtume filed a lawsuit against Sony Music/Epic Records, hoping to reclaim the rights for two albums and his hit single “Juicy Fruit”. Mtume claimed to hold the sole copyright of these recordings, while Sony insisted that the albums were made for hire.