Ropeadope presents Quantum Blues featuring Tisziji Muñoz, Paul Shaffer, Will Calhoun, & Jamaaladeen Tacuma AKA: The Quantum Blues Quartet. This serendipitous one of its kind meeting between 4 musicians with life-long accomplishments occurred in New York in 2024. The result is Quantum Blues, a work that takes the listener by the hand on a journey of true musical exploration. It is evident that the artists are dealing with & transmitting much more than just music, they are investigating their own emotion & understanding of the world and communicating the process directly to us. In a world of quickly digestible tracks, Quantum Blues stands like a complex novel of the human experience. I had the honor of catching up with Mr. Jamaaladeen Tacuma to discuss this project. Here’s a little about him to get your mind’s working. Artist, producer, musician & composer Jamaaladeen Tacuma spent his youth in Philadelphia where he received a world class music education from the many Jazz musicians living there and has since traveled the world as a renowned and supremely versatile master of the electric bass guitar. In the 1970’s, when he was just a teen, his creatively funky free approach caught the ear of saxophonist Ornette Coleman and he became a member of Coleman’s Prime Time Band. His work is heard on some of Coleman’s historic recordings: “Dancing In Your Head & “Of Human Feelings.” Tacuma has since lent his bona fides as a jazz force to the work of Grover Washington Jr, Archie Shepp, Gary Bartz, Max Roach, James Carter, David Murray… As band leader he has produced over 25 studio albums with 120 original compositions and has appeared on countless albums as a producer, band leader & soloist. As his career evolved, he found himself right at home in music no matter the genre. Whether it be R&B, Soul, World Music, Classical, Hip-hop, Pop, Country, Experimental or a cross cultural collaboration with a classical symphony, opera’s, Turkish music Ensembles, Alpine brass band, Korean Samul Nori drum ensemble & Moroccan Gnaoua groups. He has lent his one of kind bass flavor to projects with Wiilhelmenia Fernandez, Sheryl Crow, Bob Weir, Dave Mathews, Jason Isbell, The Roots, Marc Ribot, Brad Paisley, Jeff Beck, Derek Bailey, Carlos Santana, Burhan Ocal, DJ Logic, among others. He is a standing member of Super Soul Banned, a group assembled by Rolling Stone’s drummer Steve Jordan, rubbing shoulders with the glitterati at the annual Fox Gala (Michael J. Fox’s annual fundraiser for Parkinson’s research). He has even toured/collaborated with the legendary Australian kids music group The Wiggles. Jamaal believes that music has the profound ability to be a bridge across cultures that unites humanity and has recorded, performed & collaborated with musicians on nearly every continent. He works as a music ambassador elevating the art form and shining a light on Philadelphia as an epicenter of black music culture. In the past decade Tacuma has been recognized for his Artist Excellence with numerous awards & accolades including The Marcus Garvey Foundation 50th Anniversary Award, The Pew Arts & Heritage Fellowship, Philadelphia’s Benny Golson Award & Liberty Bell Medal, Jazz Journalist Association “Philadelphia Jazz Hero Award” & South Arts Creative Residency Grant, Mid Atlantic Arts International Artist. In 2024 he became culture Ambassador for The Third Way Cultural Alliance, and he continues to engage old and new fans on tour, produce and record and teach masterclass workshops worldwide from his current home base in Philadelphia.
During my conversation with Jamaal, we got into how the stars aligned to get these 4 talents together and how they each shaped a moment in time with a groove and kinship that should come with sunglasses. The music is a piece of each – not only them but it has parts of/for us as well. Jamaal is very generous with sharing his thoughts and feeling and has the resume to prove it (as seen above), he can fit in anywhere and always stands out with flash & pizazz. He recently went down south to get spend time with our family & Third Way Ambassador Todd Clouser brought together key musicians from Mexico and South America to express the vibrant music and arts scene emerging in Mexico City. This week long exploration of music & culture saw Jamaal appear with local musicians at Jazzatlan for two nights of music and panel discussions about the role of music in bridging cultures. Rehearsals and recording sessions will allow musicians time and space to open dialogues and create music together. You see what is meant by building bridges – these folks here. Before we said farewell, he did drop a little nugget mentioning that he is producing friend of the program, Mr. Marshall Allen‘s new album 101 an Audio Odyssey’. This was one of those dream come true conversations for me. Check it out so you can get some of that feeling too.
