Abdul Wadud

Abdul Wadud (born Ronald Earsall DeVaughn; April 30, 1947 – August 10, 2022) was an American cellist known for his work in jazz and classical settings. Jazz musician and fellow composer Tomeka Reid hailed Abdul Wadud's "Camille" in a 2020 feature in the New York Times on music that one could play to make friends fall in love with the cello.

He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of twelve children in a musical family; his father played trumpet and French horn. He studied cello in the city’s public schools while also playing saxophone, and took private lessons with members of the Cleveland Orchestra. He first attended Youngstown State University, then transferred to the Oberlin Conservatory, where he converted to Islam and adopted the name Abdul Wadud. In Cleveland, he co-founded the Black Unity Trio with saxophonist Yusuf Mumin and drummer Hasan Shahid; the group’s album Al-Fatihah was recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. Wadud later earned a master’s degree in performance at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and worked in orchestras, including the New Jersey Symphony, alongside an active presence on the 1970s loft-jazz scene.

His son is R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn.

Wadud died on August 10, 2022, at the age of 75.

By Myself and legacy

Wadud’s only solo album, By Myself, was recorded in New York in 1977 and self-released the same year on his Bisharra label. Critics and musicians have highlighted the record’s blend of classical technique with chordal strumming, pizzicato lines, and blues-inflected improvisation, marking it as a landmark for improvised cello. After decades out of print, the album was remastered and reissued in 2023 by the Cleveland label Gotta Groove Records, prompting renewed critical attention and tributes from improvising string players who cite Wadud’s influence.

Discography

As leader

1977: By Myself Bishara, 1978

1976: Live In New York (with Julius Hemphill) Red Records, 1978

1979: Straight Ahead/Free At Last (with Leroy Jenkins) Red

1984: I've Known Rivers (with James Newton & Anthony Davis) Gramavision

1986: Black Swan Quartet (with Akbar Ali, Eileen Folson & Reggie Workman) Minor Music

1990: Trio^2 (with James Newton & Anthony Davis) Gramavision

1993: Oakland Duets (with Julius Hemphill) Music & Arts

As sideman

Black Unity Trio – Al-Fatihah (1971) Salaam

Frank Lowe – Fresh (1974) Black Lion

George Lewis – Shadowgraph 5 (1977) Black Saint

Charles "Bobo" Shaw – The Streets of St. Louis (1977)

Oliver Lake – Shine! (1978)

Barry Altschul – Another Time/Another Place (1978) Muse

Michael Franks – Tiger In The Rain (1979) Warner Brothers

Muhal Richard Abrams – Rejoicing with the Light (Black Saint, 1983)

David Murray – The People's Choice (1988) Columbia

Marty Ehrlich Dark Woods Ensemble – Emergency Peace (1991) New World

Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society – Father of Origin (Eremite, 2011) recorded in 1970–1971

With James Newton

Paseo Del Mar (1978)

Portraits (1982)

Romance And Revolution (1986)

With Julius Hemphill

Dogon A.D. (Mbari, 1972)

Coon Bid'ness (Mbari, 1975)

Raw Materials and Residuals (Black Saint, 1977)

Flat-Out Jump Suite (Black Saint, 1980)

Live from the New Music Cafe (Music & Arts, 1991)

The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (New World, 2021)

With Arthur Blythe

Light Blue: Arthur Blythe Plays Thelonious Monk (1983) Columbia

Elaborations (1982) Columbia

Illusions (1980) Columbia

The Grip (1977) India Navigation

Metamorphosis (1977) India Navigation

With Anthony Davis

Of Blues And Dreams (1978) Sackville

Epistemes (1981)

Undines (1986)