An outstanding cellist, Abdul Wadud concentrated solely on the instrument from the age of nine, and never decided to double on bass. His plucking and bowed solos were featured in jazz and symphonic/classical settings, and he was easily the finest cellist to emerge from the 1960s and '70s generation. Wadud studied at Youngstown State and Oberlin in the late '60s and early '70s. He played in the Black Unity Trio at Oberlin and met Julius Hemphill; the two subsequently worked together well through the '80s. Wadud played in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in the '70s, and earned his master's degree in 1972. He played with Arthur Blythe for the first time in 1976, and maintained a working relationship with him. Wadud also worked and recorded with Frank Lowe, George Lewis, Oliver Lake, Sam Rivers, Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Chico Freeman, Anthony Davis, and James Newton in the '70s and '80s. Wadud, Newton, and Davis were in both the octet Episteme and a trio from 1982 to 1984. He recorded as a leader for Bishara and Gramavision in the '70s and '80s, and in a duo with Jenkins for Red in the '70s. Abdul Wadud died in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 10, 2022, at the age of 75. ~ Ron Wynn