James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "raggedly soulful".
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, area from 1964 to 1967. He recorded with organist Hank Marr in 1964 (released 1967). After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with
Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
's Jazz Messengers,
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
; he was the first electric guitarist to record and tour extensively with Coleman. He has credited Coleman as a major influence. Coleman's reliance on electric guitar in his fusion-oriented recordings owes a debt to Ulmer.
His appearance on
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Murray Blythe (May 7, 1940 – March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a f ...
's two consecutive Columbia albums, '' Lenox Avenue Breakdown'' (1979) and '' Illusions'' (1980), was followed by Ulmer's signing to that label. That resulted in three albums: '' Free Lancing'', '' Black Rock'', and '' Odyssey'', which was the inaugural release of Odyssey The Band with drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham. The trio was called "avant-
gutbucket
The washtub bass, or gutbucket, is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses ha ...
" by music critic Bill Milkowski to describe the music as "conjuring images of Skip James and Albert Ayler jamming on the
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
."
Ulmer formed Music Revelation Ensemble around 1980, co-led with David Murray for the first decade and lasting into the 1990s. Later versions of the band included Arthur Blythe, Sam Rivers,
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
, and
John Zorn
John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...
. In the 1980s he co-led the quartet Phalanx with saxophonist George Adams. Ulmer has recorded as a leader, including
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
-oriented albums produced by Vernon Reid: ''Memphis Blood'', ''No Escape from the Blues'', ''Bad Blood in the City'', and ''Birthright''.
He was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent musicians.
In a 2005 '' Down Beat'' interview, he said guitar technique stagnated after the death of
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
. He stated technique could advance "if the guitar would stop following the piano" and indicated he tunes his guitar strings to A.
In 2009, Ulmer started the label American Revelation. In spring 2011, he joined James Carter's organ trio as a special guest with Nicholas Payton on trumpet for a six-night stand of performances at Blue Note New York.
America - Do You Remember the Love?
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'' (Blue Note, 1987)
* ''
Blues Allnight
''Blues Allnight'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1989 and released on the In + Out label.
Blues Preacher
''Blues Preacher'' is an album by the American guitarist James Blood Ulmer, recorded in 1992 and released in Japan on DIW Records and in the US on Columbia/DIW.
'' (DIW, 1993)
* ''
Live at the Bayerischer Hof
''Live at the Bayerischer Hof'' is a live album by guitarist James Blood Ulmer which was recorded at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich in 1994 and released on the In + Out label.
'' (In+Out, 1994)
* '' Music Speaks Louder than Words'' (DIW, 1995)
* ''Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman'' (DIW, 1996)
* ''
Harmolodic Guitar with Strings
''Harmolodic Guitar with Strings'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1993 and released on the Japanese DIW label.Reunion'' (Knitting Factory, 1997)
* ''
Forbidden Blues
''Forbidden Blues'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1996 and released on the Japanese DIW label in 1998.
Music Revelation Ensemble
''Music Revelation Ensemble'' is the eponymous second album by James Blood Ulmer's Music Revelation Ensemble featuring saxophonist David Murray, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, recorded in 1988 and released on the J ...
Knights of Power
''Knights of Power'' is an album by James Blood Ulmer's Music Revelation Ensemble, with guest saxophonists Arthur Blythe and Hamiet Bluiett, recorded in 1995 and released on the Japanese DIW label.Cross Fire'' (DIW, 1997)
With Phalanx
* ''
Got Something Good for You
''Got Something Good for You'' is an album by James Blood Ulmer and George Adams' band Phalanx which was recorded in 1985 and released on the German Moers Music label.
'' (Moers Music, 1986)
* ''
Original Phalanx
''Original Phalanx'' is an album by James Blood Ulmer and George Adams' band Phalanx which was recorded in 1987 and released on the Japanese DIW label.
'' (DIW, 1987)
* '' In Touch'' (DIW, 1988)
* ''Phalanx Live'' (American Revelation, 2013)
With Third Rail
* ''South Delta Space Age'' (Antilles, 1995)
As sideman
* Rashied Ali, ''Rashied Ali Quintet'' (Survival, 1973)
* Karl Berger, ''Conversations'' (In+Out, 1994)
*
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Murray Blythe (May 7, 1940 – March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a f ...
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
, ''Celebrate Ornette'' (Song X 2016)
*
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...
, ''The End of Violence'' (Outpost, 1997)
* Jayne Cortez, ''Borders of Disorderly Time'' (Bola, 2003)
*
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
Sounds from the Marr-Ket Place
''Sounds from the Marr-Ket Place'' is an album by organist Hank Marr which was released by the King Records (United States), King label in 1968.
Children
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
'' (Black Saint, 1985)
* David Murray, ''
Recording N.Y.C. 1986
''Recording N.Y.C. 1986'' is an album by David Murray (also known by the eponymous title ''David Murray'') released on the Japanese DIW label in 1986. It features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, James Blood Ulmer and Sunny ...
Accent on the Blues
''Accent on the Blues'' is an album by American organist John Patton recorded in 1969 and released on the Blue Note label.
'' (Blue Note, 1969)
* John Patton, ''
Memphis to New York Spirit
''Memphis to New York Spirit'' is an album by American organist John Patton recorded in 1969 and 1970 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1996.
The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...
, ''
Phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
Political Blues
''Political Blues'' is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released by the Canadian Justin Time label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Jaleel Shaw, Oliver Lake and David Murray, with guests Craig Harris ...