Jamaaladeen Tacuma | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Rudy McDaniel |
Born | Hempstead, New York, U.S. | June 11, 1956
Genres | Jazz, free jazz, free funk, jazz fusion |
Instrument(s) | Electric bass |
Years active | 1975–present |
Labels | Gramavision, Thirsty Ear, P-Vine, DIW, Moers Music, Timeless |
Website | www |
Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) [1] 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. [2] [3]
Tacuma, raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showed interest in music at a young age, performing with the organist Charles Earland in his teens. [1] Through Earland, Tacuma came to know the record producer Reggie Lucas, who introduced Jamaaladeen to Ornette Coleman in 1975 at age 19. [1] As the electric bassist for Coleman's funky harmolodic Prime Time group, Tacuma rose to prominence quickly; [1] 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 ( Dancing in Your Head , Body Meta , and Of Human Feelings , all recorded in the late 1970s) [1] 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 ( The Golden Palominos, 1983) 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. [1] 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. [1] 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. [1]
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 (known for his work in Living Colour and with Ronald Shannon Jackson) 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. [4]
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. [5]
with James Carter
with Walt Dickerson
with James Blood Ulmer
with Kip Hanrahan
with Nona Hendryx
with The Golden Palominos
with David Moss
with Jayne Cortez and the Firespitters
with Cashmere
with Veronica Underwood
with Khan Jamal
with Grant Calvin Weston
with Fool Proof
with James Watkins
with Courtney Pine
with Pink Inc.
with Bazillus
with Fredy Studer and Christy Doran
with Sylk 130
with Ben Schachter
with Peter Murphy
with Marc Ribot
Ronald Shannon Jackson was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and producer. Jackson and bassist Sirone are the only musicians to have performed and recorded with the three prime shapers of free jazz: pianist Cecil Taylor, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.
James "Blood" Ulmer is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "raggedly soulful".
Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forward-thinking jazz-funk known as harmolodic funk. It is associated with avant-garde jazz and free jazz, although its implications extend beyond these limits. Coleman also used the name "Harmolodic" for both his first website and his record label.
In All Languages is a 1987 double album by Ornette Coleman. Coleman and the other members of his 1950s quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, performed on one of the two records, while his electrified ensemble, Prime Time, performed on the other. Many of the songs on In All Languages had two renditions, one by each group.
John Edward Blake Jr. was an American jazz violinist from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He performed most prominently as a sideman in groups led by Grover Washington Jr. and McCoy Tyner, as well as led his own groups.
Free-funk is a combination of avant-garde jazz with funk music that developed in the 1970s. Leaders of the genre include Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time group, Ronald Shannon Jackson and his group Decoding Society, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and his group Spectacle and James "Blood" Ulmer. The music has also been quite influential on the M-Base genre.
Jean-Paul Etienne Bourelly is an American guitarist whose music crosses the boundaries of jazz fusion and rock.
Gerald Veasley is an American jazz bass guitarist.
Denardo Ornette Coleman is an American jazz drummer. He is the son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez.
Of Human Feelings is an album by American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman. It was recorded on April 25, 1979, at CBS Studios in New York City with his band Prime Time, which featured guitarists Charlie Ellerbee and Bern Nix, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummers Calvin Weston and Coleman's son Denardo. It followed the saxophonist's failed attempt to record a direct-to-disc session earlier in March of the same year and was the first jazz album to be recorded digitally in the United States.
Opening the Caravan of Dreams is a 1985 live album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time ensemble. It was recorded at a concert inaugurating the Caravan of Dreams, a then-newly opened performing arts center in Coleman's hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.
Discography for American jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.
Tales of Captain Black is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer, featuring Ornette Coleman, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Denardo Coleman, recorded in 1978 and originally released on the Artists House label. It was coproduced by Ornette. The album was remastered and rereleased on CD with a new mix by Joe Ferla approved and co-produced by Ulmer on the Japanese DIW label in 1996.
Wolfgang Puschnig is an Austrian jazz musician and composer.
Prime Time was a band formed by Ornette Coleman in 1975 featuring two electric guitarists, two drummers, and occasionally two electric bassists alongside Coleman's saxophone. The band utilized Harmolodics to create their music. Founding members included guitarist Bern Nix, guitarist Charles Ellerbee, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, drummer Denardo Coleman and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. Later members including bassist Albert MacDowell and drummer Sabir Kamal.
Urban Mythology Volume One is the debut album by American experimental power trio Free Form Funky Frēqs, featuring guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer G. Calvin Weston. It was recorded during the summer of 2007 at Fenix Studios in Staten Island, New York, and was released in 2008 by Thirsty Ear Recordings.
For the Love of Ornette is an album by electric bassist and composer Jamaaladeen Tacuma. It was recorded on June 21, 2010, at MSR Studios in New York City, and was released later that year by Tacuma's Jam-All Productions, Jazzwerkstatt (Germany), and P-Vine (Japan). On the album, which is dedicated to Tacuma's mentor Ornette Coleman, the bassist is joined by Coleman himself on alto saxophone, Tony Kofi on tenor saxophone, Wolfgang Puschnig on flute, Yoichi Uzeki on piano, Justin Faulkner and David "Fingers" Haynes on drums, and Wadud Ahmad on vocals.
Mirakle is an album by guitarist Derek Bailey, electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Calvin Weston. It was recorded on November 29, 1999, at Orange Music in West Orange, New Jersey, and was released in 2000 by Tzadik Records as part of their Key Series.
Hymn of the 3rd Galaxy is the third album by American experimental power trio Free Form Funky Frēqs, featuring guitarist Vernon Reid, electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Grant Calvin Weston. It was recorded during 2020–2021 at the musicians' home studios, and was released in 2022 by Ropeadope Records.
Grant Calvin Weston is a drummer best known for his association with Ornette Coleman's band Prime Time.