The modish Tacuma is being hawked by the hip American press and his record company as the hot bass for the eighties. He has the credential of being whisked from obscurity into Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time when he was 19, and his technique is well-matched with the material he plays on this second album for Gramavision.
Jamaaladeen wrote all the tunes here except Dancing In Your Head, which was supplied by Ornette Coleman. Stylistically, Tacuma supports the harmolodic cause, adding the odd personal touch here and there, but finally offers little improvement on the ragged free-funk of Prime Time, James ‘Blood’ Ulmer or Ronald Shannon Jackson.
Lack of originality is not in itself a problem, of course, if the music is attractive or exciting. Sadly, Tacuma’s is neither. It’s unattractive because it lacks melody and warmth and equates unrelenting dissonance with musical interest. The same mistaken idea that ‘more is better’ is applied to the rhythm section, which is mostly frenetic, cluttered and breathless. Speed and energy may be exciting for a brief period, but without the contrast of rest they lose their potency. Tacuma disregards this most basic principle of communication, and as a result his music lacks subtlety and sophistication. It is naive, overplayed and boring but, much like Tacuma’s wardrobe, very fashionable.
Discography
Renaissance Man; Flash Back; Let’s Have A Good Time; The Next Stop (22.55) – Dancing In Your Head; There He Stood; The Battle Of Images; Sparkle (27.36)
Jamaaladeen Tacuma (elb); Rick lannacone, Charles Ellerbee, Vernon Reed (elg); James R. Walkins Ornette Coleman, David Murray (s); Cornell Rochester, Ron Howerton, Daniel Ponce, Bill Bruford (d/pc); plus others, including string quartet. Recorded in Germany and USA, 1983/1984.
(Gramavision GR8308)