Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Dirt Road Xperience Creative Residency Meet & Greet

616 South Madison Street,Whiteville NC 28472

17 February, 2022

Description

Whiteville, NC Welcome Party for Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Dirt Road Xperience panel discussion with Joseph T Jones, Choci Gray Craig Woolard. THE DIRT ROAD XPERIENCE: RENOWN BASSIST JAMAALADEEN TACUMA IN RESIDENCE IN WHITEVILLE, NC FEBRUARY 16 — MARCH 10, 2022 Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the American free jazz bassist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980 put him on the international map, is tracing his own origin story with a residency project he is calling The Dirt Road Xperience. To support the composition of a new musical suite, Tacuma will reflect on his career arc and musical journeys while revisiting the stomping grounds of his youth—the winding back roads of Whiteville in Columbus County, NC. Tacuma's own artistic biography parallels the Carolina origins of important nationally- and internationally-acclaimed musical talents including bassist Kim Clarke (also from Whiteville), Graham Haynes (his Greensboro roots), and the geographic arcs of Percy Heath, Nina Simone, Max Roach, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Paul Robeson; not to mention the iconic individuals known to the world as Dizzy, Monk, and Coltrane. Tacuma is the grandson of Whiteville's own Luther and Bertha Hill. He spent his summers in Whiteville working on sharecropper families' tobacco farms while also discovering his passion for his instrument, the bass guitar; having experiences that shaped him into the man and musician he is today. During the residency, Tacuma will set up a combination art gallery, music studio, and design installation space at 611 South Madison Street in downtown Whiteville from February 16 through March 10. During this period, the public will be able to stop by to meet the artist and experience his multifaceted creativity. The public is also invited to join Tacuma's Xperience by attending one or more from a series of free performances, workshops, and discussions in Whiteville and Charlotte (details listed on next page). Tacuma will be joined during the residency by award-winning videographer and Apollo Theater sound engineer Gregg Mann, who will be documenting the entire residency for posterity. Mann brings his wealth of over 25 years in the music industry to the project. He has worked with Ornette Coleman, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, John Legend, Eryka Badu, and many other significant artists. For the last 10 years, he has been working in the independent film community as a director and editor. The Dirt Road Xperience is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. South Arts awarded $2 million in grants in October 2021 to support jazz musicians through the Jazz Road initiative. The individual grants, which ranged from $24,700 to $40,000, were delivered to 52 musicians to support a wide variety of creative residencies. Jamaaladeen Tacuma's Dirt Road Xperience: Free Public Events ***All events require Eventbrite RSVP/Registration February 17, 2022 Welcome Party at Sophie's Cafe & Bistro, 616 S Madison St, Whiteville, NC 28472; 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Enjoy coffee, tea, and sweets and hear from Jamaaladeen and family members about their history, music, participation in the Great Migration, and how they've maintained ties between the North and the South. Special guests present will include author and family historian Joseph T. Jones, Craig Woolard of The Embers, music historian Choci Gray, Author and Storyteller Marian Nance. A DJ will spin Jamaaladeen's music. This event will also be live streamed. General Admission registration is for in person attendees. Live Stream Link registration for anyone that can not attend in person. "Artist, Producer, AND Bassist - JAMAALADEEN TACUMA  Jamaaladeen has always stretched the mold of what and how a bassist is supposed to play. He has re-defined his instrument's artistic potential. In the 1970's, his creatively free approach to the bass caught the eye of saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Tacuma became a member of Coleman's Prime Time. He toured with and performed on some of Coleman's historic recordings : "Dancing In Your Head", "Body Meta", and "Of Human Feelings". Tacuma continued to press the musical envelope with his debut album in 1983 entitled "Showstopper" and  latest historical recordings “FOR THE LOVE OF ORNETTE” features Ornette Coleman and Bon Vivant with Free Form Funky Freqs is  a trio with Vernon Reid and G.Calvin Weston He has worked with diverse artists: Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Marc Ribot, Derek Bailey, Pharoah Sanders, Grover Washington Jr., Peter Murphy, The Roots among others. He has worked with orchestras led by Anthony Davis at Carnegie Hall. And in the past few years he is recognized for his artistic excellence worldwide with  the "PARALLEL CULTURE" AWARD 2009, Marcus Garvey Foundation 50th Anniversary Award 2011,  The Pew Fellowship in the Arts 2011 and the The Uptown Theater Hall of Fame Award.  He has received The MacDowell Colony, Headlands Center for the Arts and Civitella Ranieri residency fellowships. Jamaaladeen continues to tour, produce and record worldwide.