Abdul Wadud (musician)

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.