Electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma brought his distinguished brew of hefty jazz funk to Cafe Oto with flair, driven intensity and a glowing, light touch. Funk is deeply rooted in his DNA, and flows in his blood, no question. Ornette Coleman saw it straight away and, at age 19, he was recruited to his Prime Time band (seen on an unforgettable night at the Town & Country in 1987), having already sat in, as a youngster, with organist Charles Earland in his hometown, Philadelphia.
Tacuma has had awards showered on him, and has played with a host of key figures in left-field and mainstream jazz, soul and rock, including James ‘Blood’ Ulmer, Derek Bailey, David Murray, Jeff Beck, Marc Ribot, and poet Amiri Baraka, and he brought in Tony Kofi to partner him on tributes to Ornette and Coltrane.
For his return visit to Cafe Oto after ten years he was reunited with Black Top’s Pat Thomas and Orphy Robinson who knew just what drummer Charles Hayward would bring to the party.
Tacuma, short bearded, with something of the appearance of Pharaoh Sanders, delivered two complementary sets of inspired improvisation, interspersed with thoughtful, reflective episodes.
The first was in duo with saxophonist Massimo Magee, softly spoken then breaking in to dynamic, pacey passages, to bring Magee’s fluid phrasing in to play with Tacuma’s gently rendered bass lines and power riffs. With his distinctive slap bass and nimble fingering growing in to heavy duty chord work and uplifting runs, there was still room, in both sets, for carefully crafted bass solos.
His connection with Magee had been during Covid, when Tacuma reached out worldwide for material for his Outsiders Festival project and was hugely impressed by Magee’s music and they recorded together on his latest album, Philly Improv Society.
Taking to the stage for the second set with the Black Top crew, Tacuma asked, ‘Are you ready to have your minds blown?’ And that’s exactly what they did! Thomas, Robinson and Hayward mastered the tensions and spaces which Tacuma set down around brightly fashioned riffs and figures, with Thomas inserting micro-electronics, discords and glistening piano arpeggios, and Robinson putting down dazzling vibraphone runs and light percussion to add polish to Hayward’s emphatic cross rhythms and back beats.
Hayward’s drumming was extraordinary and blew away Tacuma who, lost for words, laughingly pronounced it ‘Nasty!’ That was a perfect rhythm section. There must be something in the name, as Charles Hayward’s drumming immediately brought to mind Richie Hayward, the late and truly great drummer behind Little Feat – live, he was unmatched, and his namesake was right there.
As an aside, Tacuma shared anecdotes and family history – his wife and his cousin, Denise Ward, who sang a moving gospel verse as an encore, were on the front row – and he told how his 3-month artistic residency, Dirt Road Xperience, in Whiteville, North Carolina in 2022, reconnected him with the hometown of his grandparents, whom he never met.
Tacuma’s Song, written specially for him by his mentor, Ornette, when Tacuma came to him in need of material and direction, had him sliding along the fretboard and increasing the pace in the first set. Ornette was always writing, he explained, even at meal times and this was ‘easy for him to do.’
This had been a rare masterclass in funk-jazz improv at close quarters, and a personal and engaging evening throughout much appreciated by the sell-out house.
