Biography
During the 1970s and 1980s, James Mtume exerted considerable influence as a percussionist, songwriter, producer, and bandleader across numerous forward-thinking yet widely embraced jazz and R&B recordings that later became frequent sources for sampling. Across his trajectory he moved through trailblazing acoustic and electric experimental jazz, quiet storm staples, post-disco dancefloor successes, and original scores for cinema and television. His drumming first helped shape Miles Davis’ initial electric phase, after which his songwriting and production partnership with Reggie Lucas strengthened the paths of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway on their 1978 duet “The Closer I Get to You,” and of Stephanie Mills via the Grammy-winning “Never Knew Love Like This.” Several years after his own band achieved a number-one R&B single with “Juicy Fruit,” Mtume redirected his energies toward supporting other performers in the late 1980s. He sustained his activist commitments until his death in 2022.
Native Philadelphian James Forman grew up under pianist James “Hen Gates” Forman and is the biological son of saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Through his teenage years he performed on piano and percussion while also excelling as a competitive swimmer. After relocating to California on an athletic scholarship to Pasadena City College, the younger Forman became involved with the U.S. Organization, the Black nationalist collective whose founder Maulana Karenga established the pan-African observance Kwanzaa. That political engagement directly shaped his earliest recording. Although the acoustic avant-garde album Kawaida (1970) was issued under the leadership of his uncle Albert Heath, Mtume alone received composer credit on four of its five pieces and supplied percussion; the session marked his recorded debut alongside not only his uncle and father but also Herbie Hancock, Don Cherry, and Buster Williams.
Shortly afterward Mtume settled in New York, where he quickly established himself among elite percussionists through engagements with McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, and Lonnie Liston Smith, among many others. Between 1971 and 1975 he performed and recorded most extensively with Miles Davis, appearances preserved on such landmark albums as On the Corner, Agharta, and Pangaea. In the same span he led the sessions Alkebu-Lan (Strata East, 1972) and Rebirth Cycle (recorded 1974, issued three years later on Third Street). When Weather Report and Roberta Flack approached him simultaneously toward the end of the decade, Mtume chose to join the latter and recruited fellow Davis alumnus Reggie Lucas. Together they supplied Flack and Donny Hathaway with the Billboard R&B chart-topping “The Closer I Get to You.” Over the ensuing years the pair collaborated with additional prominent R&B acts and delivered further major successes for Phyllis Hyman and Stephanie Mills, the latter earning a Grammy for Best R&B Song with “Never Knew Love Like This.”
From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s Mtume also directed the ensemble that bore his name, which included Lucas on the first two albums and featured the consistent presence of vocalist Tawatha Agee across all five LPs. Issued by Epic, these recordings trace his stylistic progression from orchestral soul toward streamlined machine funk and yielded the hits “Give It on Up (If You Want To),” “Juicy Fruit” (number one R&B), “You, Me & He” (number two R&B), and “Breathless” (number nine R&B). In 1986, the year the group’s final album appeared, Mtume supplied the score for the film Native Son and subsequently wrote or produced for Tawatha Agee, Nu Romance Crew (featuring his son Faulu Mtume), Mary J. Blige, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bilal (whose album 1st Born Second was executive-produced by another son, Damu Mtume). He further contributed music to the series New York Undercover and produced much of its accompanying soundtrack. The track “Juicy Fruit” later reached new listeners when the Notorious B.I.G. built “Juicy” upon it, prompting dozens of additional samples and references by other producers and vocalists. Mtume eventually stepped back from the industry to co-host the WBLS call-in program Open Line for twenty years through 2013 while maintaining his activism. He succumbed to cancer on January 9, 2022, at age 76.
Native Philadelphian James Forman grew up under pianist James “Hen Gates” Forman and is the biological son of saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Through his teenage years he performed on piano and percussion while also excelling as a competitive swimmer. After relocating to California on an athletic scholarship to Pasadena City College, the younger Forman became involved with the U.S. Organization, the Black nationalist collective whose founder Maulana Karenga established the pan-African observance Kwanzaa. That political engagement directly shaped his earliest recording. Although the acoustic avant-garde album Kawaida (1970) was issued under the leadership of his uncle Albert Heath, Mtume alone received composer credit on four of its five pieces and supplied percussion; the session marked his recorded debut alongside not only his uncle and father but also Herbie Hancock, Don Cherry, and Buster Williams.
Shortly afterward Mtume settled in New York, where he quickly established himself among elite percussionists through engagements with McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, and Lonnie Liston Smith, among many others. Between 1971 and 1975 he performed and recorded most extensively with Miles Davis, appearances preserved on such landmark albums as On the Corner, Agharta, and Pangaea. In the same span he led the sessions Alkebu-Lan (Strata East, 1972) and Rebirth Cycle (recorded 1974, issued three years later on Third Street). When Weather Report and Roberta Flack approached him simultaneously toward the end of the decade, Mtume chose to join the latter and recruited fellow Davis alumnus Reggie Lucas. Together they supplied Flack and Donny Hathaway with the Billboard R&B chart-topping “The Closer I Get to You.” Over the ensuing years the pair collaborated with additional prominent R&B acts and delivered further major successes for Phyllis Hyman and Stephanie Mills, the latter earning a Grammy for Best R&B Song with “Never Knew Love Like This.”
From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s Mtume also directed the ensemble that bore his name, which included Lucas on the first two albums and featured the consistent presence of vocalist Tawatha Agee across all five LPs. Issued by Epic, these recordings trace his stylistic progression from orchestral soul toward streamlined machine funk and yielded the hits “Give It on Up (If You Want To),” “Juicy Fruit” (number one R&B), “You, Me & He” (number two R&B), and “Breathless” (number nine R&B). In 1986, the year the group’s final album appeared, Mtume supplied the score for the film Native Son and subsequently wrote or produced for Tawatha Agee, Nu Romance Crew (featuring his son Faulu Mtume), Mary J. Blige, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bilal (whose album 1st Born Second was executive-produced by another son, Damu Mtume). He further contributed music to the series New York Undercover and produced much of its accompanying soundtrack. The track “Juicy Fruit” later reached new listeners when the Notorious B.I.G. built “Juicy” upon it, prompting dozens of additional samples and references by other producers and vocalists. Mtume eventually stepped back from the industry to co-host the WBLS call-in program Open Line for twenty years through 2013 while maintaining his activism. He succumbed to cancer on January 9, 2022, at age 76.
Albums