Cornelius Bumpus
January 13, 1946 – February 3, 2004
Cornelius Bumpus is best remembered as the saxophonist for the Doobie Brothers and later, Steely Dan. In 2000, he won the Best Album Grammy for his work on Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature. As an in-demand session player, Bumpus has performed or recorded with the likes of Michael McDonald, Jeff Lorber, Lacy J. Dalton, Patrick Simmons, Phoebe Snow, Ambrosia and Boz Scaggs. While flying from New York to Los Angeles for a gig, Bumpus suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 58.
It amazes me how few of the players in Steely Dan were actually members of the band. Don’t get me wrong, I love Steely Dan’s work for the first eight years of their career. But this group was dependent on outside talent to give flavor to their best songs.