Jamaaladeen Tacuma


Jamaaladeen Tacuma is an American jazz funk avant-garde bassist, composer and producer born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's Prime Time band.
Tacuma showcased a unique style of avant-garde jazz on Coleman's 1982 album Of Human Feelings, and became widely viewed as one of the most distinctive bassists since Jaco Pastorius. Tacuma formed his own group, and recorded albums that incorporated commercially accessible melodies while retaining Prime Time's elaborate harmonies.
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Biography

Tacuma, raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showed interest in music at a young age, performing with the organist Charles Earland in his teens. Through Earland, Tacuma came to know the record producer Reggie Lucas, who introduced Jamaaladeen to Ornette Coleman in 1975 at age 19. As the electric bassist for Coleman's funky harmolodic Prime Time group, Tacuma rose to prominence quickly; guitarist Bern Nix was another band member. While with Prime Time, Tacuma relied mostly on traditional technique, picking with his fingers. His later work revealed a master improviser and showcased a more rhythmic, thumb-slapping funk approach.
The first three Prime Time recordings feature Tacuma's work on a Rickenbacker bass, a model popular among progressive rock musicians, but rarely used on jazz recordings. He switched to a Steinberger bass in the 1980s, an instrument that helped him create his readily identifiable sound.
Tacuma's work with Prime Time landed him his most high-profile gig to date: an appearance with the band on Saturday Night Live on April 14, 1979, which Tacuma later cited in Musician magazine as his "best live performance ever". Besides the work with such musicians as James "Blood" Ulmer, Walt Dickerson, Chuck Hammer, and David Murray, he collaborated with the upcoming artists of the New York Downtown scene like Kip Hanrahan, David Moss, Bill Laswell and Anton Fier that further heightened his reputation. Tacuma's first solo album, Show Stopper, came in 1983 on the Gramavision label; the album grew out of the jazz-funk style he developed in his work with Coleman. His other works as leader at Gramavision followed that formula.
In the 1980s, he started to perform in a relatively straightforward funk/R&B setting with his group Cosmetic. He was frequently featured in music magazines thanks to his aggressive, driving playing style and his angular fashion sense. In 1981, Tacuma received the highest number of votes ever for an electric bassist in the "talent deserving wider recognition" category of the DownBeat magazine critics poll.
Since the early 1990s, he has remained active but has maintained a lower profile. He has made numerous solo and collaborative recordings, including several CDs of duets with saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig. AllMusic cited Mirakle, a recording that features Tacuma, drummer Grant Calvin Weston, and guitarist Derek Bailey as one of the "most important recordings of year 2000." In 2006, he returned to the jazz spotlight with an appearance on the World Saxophone Quartet's Political Blues.
In 2007, he joined with Weston and guitarist Vernon Reid to form the power trio Free Form Funky Freqs. He has also recorded two albums with Basso Nouveau, a group that features multiple bassists playing together on a variety of instruments, including electric bass, upright bass and acoustic bass guitar, and that also includes bassist Gerald Veasley.
Tacuma has received the following awards and fellowships: "Parallel Culture" Award 2009, Marcus Garvey Foundation 50th Anniversary Award 2011, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts 2011 and The Uptown Theater Hall of Fame Award in 2014, Gerald Veasely's Bass Boot Camp "Living The Dream Award - 2016, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Best Bassist 2017. He has received The MacDowell Colony 2011, Headlands Center for the Arts 2012 and Civitella Ranieri 2014 residency fellowship. In 2017, he received The Philadelphia Club Club of Jazz Best Bassist Award, in 2018 he received the City of Philadelphia's Benny Golson Award, The Benny Golson Award includes a City proclamation and the Liberty Bell award – one of the highest honors from the City of Philadelphia. Since 2015, Tacuma presents the annual Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival in Philadelphia and continues to tour, produce and record worldwide.

Discography

As leader

Show Stopper Renaissance Man Music World Jukebox Boss of the Bass Sound Symphony

with Cosmetic

Cosmetics / New Complexion Get Ready Nightlife Nightlife ) So Tranquilizin'
  • ''So Tranquilizin' ''

As co-leader

with Free Form Funky Frēqs (trio with [Vernon Reid] and [Calvin Weston])

Urban Mythology Volume One Bon Vivant

As sideman

with Ornette Coleman

with Wolfgang Puschnig

Pieces of the Dream Gemini-Gemini – The Flavors of Thelonious Monk Alpine Aspects Mixed Metaphors w/ Ernst Jandl Journey Into the Gemini Territory
  • ''Roots & Fruits''

with Sean Noonan

Boxing Dreams There's Always the Night
  • ''Tan Man's Hat''

with Red Sun and [Samul Nori]

Red Sun/Samul Nori Then Comes the White Tiger
  • ''Nanjang – A New Horizon''

with [Linda Sharrock]

  • ''Linda Sharrock & The Three Man Band''

with others

with James Carter
with Walt Dickerson
with James Blood UlmerTales of Captain Black Music Revelation Ensemble
with Kip HanrahanCoup de tête Desire Develops an Edge
with Nona HendryxNona
with The Golden PalominosThe Golden Palominos
with David MossFull House
with Jayne Cortez and the FirespittersThere It Is
with CashmereLet the Music Turn You On
with Veronica UnderwoodVeronica Underwood
with Khan JamalThinking of You
with Grant Calvin WestonDance Romance
with Fool ProofNo Friction
with James WatkinsIntense
with Courtney PineThe Vision's Tale
with Pink Inc.Alex Deutsch 's Pink Inc. Keys 2 the Kastle
with BazillusThe Regulator featuring Eddie Harris
with Fredy Studer and Christy DoranHalf a Lifetime
with Sylk 130When the Funk Hits the Fan
with Ben SchachterFractals
with Peter MurphyDust
with Marc Ribot