Tacuma showcased a unique style of avant-garde jazz on Coleman's 1982 album Of Human Feelings, and became widely viewed as one of the most distinctive bassists since Jaco Pastorius.

[2][3] Tacuma, raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showed interest in music at a young age, performing with the organist Charles Earland in his teens.

[1] As the electric bassist for Coleman's funky harmolodic Prime Time group, Tacuma rose to prominence quickly;[1] guitarist Bern Nix was another band member.

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.

Since 2015, Tacuma presents the annual Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival in Philadelphia and continues to tour, produce and record worldwide.