Here is the story of 2021 Jazz Jamaaladeen, Tacuma of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as told by excerpts of the Jazz Journalist Association virtual town hall celebrating all of the 2021 JJA Jazz Heroes virtual town hall on Friday, April 16. Video were produced by Bret “JazzVideoGuy” Primack.
It’s the rarest of musicians who fulfill their potential while remaining in their hometowns, but Jamaaladeen Tacuma is an exemplar for how to turn what could be a liability — rootedness — into success. How he’s done it: First, there’s the world class musicianship of a bassist who at the age of 19 joined Ornette Coleman’s challenging, electrically charged groups, and stayed with them for 11 years.
