Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant Recipient
Recipient Information
Location
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
Year of Award
2021
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant
Grant Amount
$40,000
About the Project
To return to his family's hometown of Whiteville, NC and create a new work space in a former church for new work development informed by elders and local community leaders. Multi-generational social gatherings and performances will be documented at potential sites such as The Chef & The Frog restaurant, and other locations in the surrounding area.
Residency Location
Whiteville, NC
About the Artist
Artist, Producer, Filmmaker and Bass Guitarist Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Jamaaladeen has always stretched the mold of what and how a bassist is supposed to play. He has re-defined his instrument's artistic potential. In the 1970's, his creatively free approach to the bass caught the eye of saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Tacuma became a member of Coleman's Prime Time. He toured with and performed on some of Coleman's historic recordings : ""Dancing In Your Head"", ""Body Meta"", and ""Of Human Feelings"". Tacuma continued to press the musical envelope with his debut album in 1983 entitled ""Showstopper"" . In 2007 Jamaaladeen paid tribute to iconic Jazz Musicians who had a great influence on him John Coltrane with Coltrane Configurations and Flavors Of Thelonious Monk . His latest historical recordings “FOR THE LOVE OF ORNETTE” features Ornette Coleman and Bon Vivant with Free Form Funky Freqs is a trio with Vernon Reid and G.Calvin Weston He has worked with diverse artists: Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Marc Ribot, Derek Bailey, Pharoah Sanders, Grover Washington Jr., Peter Murphy, The Roots and The Wiggles among others. He has worked with orchestras led by Anthony Davis at Carnegie Hall. He is recognized for his artistic excellence worldwide with the ""PARALLEL CULTURE"" AWARD 2009, Marcus Garvey Foundation 50th Anniversary Award 2011, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts 2011 and the The Uptown Theater Hall of Fame Award. He has received The MacDowell Colony, Headlands Center for the Arts and Civitella Ranieri residency fellowships, in 2017 he received The 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 . 2015 Jamaaladeen founded The Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival A celebration of creative, progressive music in honor of Philadelphia Jazz Appreciation Month, he continues the annual festival with a mission of showcasing diverse styles of risk-taking, progressive music and groundbreaking artists . Jazz Journalist Associated named 2021 Jamaaladeen Philadelphia Jazz Hero for his community engagement work.