Jamaaladeen Tacuma

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Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel on June 11, 1956 in Long Island, New York) is a jazz bass guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as bassist in saxophonist Ornette Coleman's Prime Time Band, an electric jazz/funk group usually comprising Coleman; drummers Denardo Coleman and Grant Calvin Weston; guitarists Charlie Ellerbee and Bern Nix (the former playing in a rock/funk style, the latter in a more traditional jazz style); and Tacuma. In later recordings the band was augmented with a second bassist, Albert McDowell. 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. Work with such artists as James "Blood" Ulmer, Kip Hanrahan, and David Murray further heightened his reputation.

His first solo album, 1983's Show Stopper, grew out of the jazz/funk style he developed in his work with Coleman. His other 1980s efforts mostly continued in this path; the exception is So Tranquilizin', a fairly straightforward funk/R&B effort with the group Cosmetic.

For his work with Prime Time, Tacuma relied mostly on traditional technique, picking with his fingers. Later work (especially his solo albums) showcased a more rhythmic, thumb-slapping funk style. Throughout his career, he has gravitated to bass guitars that have a clear, treble-heavy sound. The first three Prime Time recordings (Dancing in Your Head, Body Meta, and Of Human Feelings, all recorded in the late 1970s) 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.

He was frequently featured in music magazines during the 1980s, 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.

In the 1990s and 2000s, he has maintained a lower profile. His relatively infrequent recordings in these years include CDs of duets with saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig. However, All Music Guide cited Mirakle, a recording that features Tacuma, drummer 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.