Jamaaladeen Tacuma & Dennis Alston – Sound Symphony (CD2082)

A symphony with just two instruments. On Sound Symphony, electric bass virtuoso Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer Dennis Alston show how much music fits into a bass-and-drums duo. The album was recorded on January 25, 1992 at Greenpoint Recording Studios in Brooklyn, New York.

Tacuma plays electric and fretless bass, carrying melody, harmony and groove all at once, while Alston drives the music with funky, flexible drumming. The twelve tracks range from short sketches and interludes like “The Gates of Salaam”, “Kwasi” and “Love to Love You” to full grooves like “Another Place at That Time”, “African Sunset” and “Yo Dennis Make It Funky/Jazzy (Make It Mo Better)”. There’s funk (“A Funky Wah Wah Thang”), swing (“Grab Ya Partner and Swing It”) and a wink at science fiction in “Lieutenant Data”.

This is a must for bass fans and lovers of funk, acid jazz and Ornette Coleman’s harmolodic groove. Released on Moers Music. When you buy here, you’re buying directly from the label, and we only sell originals.

The Side Story

Jamaaladeen Tacuma has a long history with Moers. He first played the Moers Festival in the 1970s as the young bassist in Ornette Coleman’s band. With Coleman’s Prime Time he became known as one of the most distinctive electric bassists since Jaco Pastorius, and his album Jukebox was nominated for a Grammy in 1989.

Sound Symphony started a series of Tacuma albums on Moers Music. A year later he played the Moers Festival with Basso Nouveau, a band with four bassists including Gerald Veasley, who you can hear with the Odean Pope Trio on Almost Like Me and Out for a Walk. Tacuma’s partnership with Dennis Alston, a fellow Philadelphian, also lasted. Decades later they played together again in “The Philly Connection” with vibraphonist Khan Jamal.

Tacuma also appears on the Moers album Linda Sharrock & The Three Man Band (CD2078), recorded just a year earlier in Vienna.

Tracklist

1. Another Place at That Time – 7:04

2. The Gates of Salaam – 0:10

3. Grab Ya Partner – 4:17

4. Wah Wah (Prelude in E Minor) – 0:50

5. Love of My Life – 4:47

6. Kwasi – 0:30

7. Yo Dennis Make It Funky/Jazzy (Make It Mo Better) – 5:39

8. Love to Love You – 1:00

9. African Sunset – 4:16

10. Lieutenant Data – 2:38

11. A Funky Wah Wah Thang – 2:50

12. Grab Ya Partner and Swing It – 2:38

Compositions by Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Dennis Alston. Total running time: approx. 38 minutes

Personnel

• Jamaaladeen Tacuma – electric bass, fretless bass

• Dennis Alston – drums

Details

• Format: CD

• Label: Moers Music

• Catalog no.: CD2082

• Recorded: January 25, 1992, Greenpoint Recording Studios, Brooklyn, New York

• Price: €14.00