She closes her eyes as she plays, letting the music flow through her. Her drum sticks become an extension of her being; the kick drum thumping through her veins. Her heart is filled with the essence of jazz. The rhythm is coming from deep in her soul.

Gayelynn McKinney, CAS ’89, was born to be a musician. Both of her parents were musicians. She played the saxophone in grade school and the drums in college. She traveled the world as a drummer, playing with famous musicians, including the late Aretha Franklin. McKinney has made a career doing what she loves and enjoying every moment.

Early years

At the age of two, McKinney started playing the drums. Her love of music was instilled by her parents. Her father, Harold McKinney, was a pianist, vocalist, composer, writer and Oakland University instructor.

“[My father] could have moved to New York, like his friends and all those jazz cats did,” explains McKinney. “But he wanted to stay in Detroit and cultivate the jazz scene here. And that’s what he did. He mentored a whole bunch of people who are very successful now.” According to jazztimes.com, Harold McKinney had a tremendous influence on the Detroit jazz scene, working with several well-known musicians, including John Coltrane and Billie Holiday. Harold died in 2001, and the Detroit jazz scene honored him with a street sign at the corner of Gratiot and Randolph.

When McKinney was 13 years old, she would sit in on the beginning jazz ensemble class at OU. One day, the famous jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie, made a surprise visit. McKinney was starstruck. “I said to myself, ‘Yeah, this school is where I want to go.’”

McKinney eventually attended OU, earning a music degree in 1989. During her senior year, she started forming the all-female jazz band Straight Ahead and, after graduating, the band began playing at Detroit clubs. As the weeks passed, word spread about the dynamic group and they started pulling in large crowds. By the time Straight Ahead played at the Detroit Jazz Festival, they had received a steady following. Along with McKinney, the ensemble included vocalist Miche Braden, pianist Alina Morr, bassist Marion Hayden, and fellow OU alumnus Regina Carter on violin.

Straight Ahead’s exposure at the Detroit Jazz Festival led them to a similar festival in Switzerland, where the group received even greater opportunities. “We were just practicing, getting ready because we were slated to play in these little clubs,” McKinney recalls. “Somebody heard us and asked if we’d like to play on the mainstage opening for Nina Simone. It was frightening because nobody knew us on the mainstage. But, when the curtains opened, we counted off and played like our lives depended on it.”

“When we hit that last note, there was a moment of silence before the crowd broke out in thunderous applause,” she continues. “I think they were shocked. All-female jazz bands were really rare back then.”

The band came home with a renewed sense of purpose, driven to continue this path toward success. They signed with Atlantic Records in the early ’90s, recorded three CDs in the following years. Straight Ahead eventually went out on their own and produced two more CDs independently. According to McKinney, their music was well-received, making it onto the billboard charts and being nominated for two Grammy Awards.  

McKinney later moved to Atlanta and, through networking at jam sessions, got a job touring as a drummer for the hip-hop group, Arrested Development. Her percussion skills were put to the test, having to shift gears from the jazz genre to R&B and hip hop. She learned to “sit on the back of the beat” rather than the jazz style of sitting on top of the beat. “It was an exciting and fun experience,” she says.