James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

free funk Free-funk is a combination of avant-garde jazz with funk music that developed in the 1970s. Leaders of the genre include Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time group, Ronald Shannon Jackson and his group Decoding Society, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and his g ...

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 The Byrdland is an electric guitar made by Gibson. Its name derives from the names of guitarists Billy Byrd and Hank Garland for whom Gibson originally custom-built the guitar. Thinline series The Byrdland is the first of Gibson's Thinline se ...

guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "raggedly soulful".

Biography

Willie James Ulmer was born in

St. Matthews, South Carolina St. Matthews is a town in Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,021 at the 2010 census, a decline from 2,107 in 2000. It is the county seat of Calhoun County. St. Matthews is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metro ...

, United States. He began his career playing with

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

ensembles, first in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, from 1959 to 1964, and then in the

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 Hank Marr (30 January 1927 – 16 March 2004) was a jazz musician known for his work on the Hammond B-3 organ. Career Natives of Columbus, Ohio, Hank Marr and tenor saxophonist Rusty Bryant co-led a group that toured for several years, beginning i ...

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 ...

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

Rashied Ali Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Biography Early life Patterson was born and ...

, and Larry Young. In the early 1970s, Ulmer joined

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 Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

-oriented recordings owes a debt to Ulmer. His appearance on Arthur Blythe's two consecutive Columbia albums, ''

Lenox Avenue Breakdown ''Lenox Avenue Breakdown'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Arthur Blythe. It was released by Columbia Records in 1979 and reissued by Koch Jazz in 1998. The album reached No. 35 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart in 1979. Reception ''Th ...

'' (1979) and ''

Illusions An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may oc ...

'' (1980), was followed by Ulmer's signing to that label. That resulted in three albums: ''

Free Lancing ''Free Lancing'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1981 and released on the Columbia label.

'', '' Black Rock'', and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'', which was the inaugural release of Odyssey The Band with drummer

Warren Benbow Warren Benbow (born December 22, 1954, in New York City) is a drummer who has worked with Nina Simone, Jimmy Owens, Larry Willis, Eddie Gómez, Olu Dara, Michael Urbaniak, Teruo Nakamura, and was an original member of James Blood Ulmer's band ...

and violinist

Charles Burnham Charles Burnham may refer to: * Charles Burnham (politician) (1847–1908), American manufacturer and politician in the Wisconsin State Assembly * Charles Burnham (geneticist) (died 1995), American plant geneticist * Charles Burnham (musician) ...

. The trio was called "avant- gutbucket" by music critic Bill Milkowski to describe the music as "conjuring images of

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

and

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

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 The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...

with saxophonist George Adams. Ulmer has recorded as a leader, including

-oriented albums produced by

Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...

: ''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 ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' 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 Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a prolific and provocative writer who comments on a multitude of subjects, inc ...

on trumpet for a six-night stand of performances at

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

New York.

Discography

As leader

* ''

Tales of Captain Black ''Tales of Captain Black'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer (credited simply as "James Blood" on the cover) featuring Ornette Coleman, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Denardo Coleman recorded in 1978 and originally released on the Ar ...

'' (Artists House, 1979) * ''

Are You Glad to Be in America? ''Are You Glad to Be in America?'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer, recorded in 1980 and released on the Rough Trade label in the UK. It was mixed by Ulmer, Geoff Travis, Roger Trilling, and Mayo Thompson. A remixed version, cr ...

'' (Rough Trade, 1980) * ''

Free Lancing ''Free Lancing'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1981 and released on the Columbia label.

'' (Columbia, 1981) * '' Black Rock'' (CBS, 1982) * ''

'' (CBS, 1983) * ''

Part Time Part Time (stylized as PARTIME) was an American pop band that was fronted by California-based musician David Loca (also credited as David Speck). Loca produced and wrote virtually all of the band's output, with most of their studio recordings c ...

'' (Rough Trade, 1984) * ''

Live at the Caravan of Dreams ''Live at the Caravan of Dreams'' is a live album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1985 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas, and released on the Caravan of Dreams label.

'' (Caravan of Dreams, 1986) * '' America - Do You Remember the Love?'' (Blue Note, 1987) * '' Blues Allnight'' (Bellaphon, 1990) * '' Revealing'' (In+Out, 1990) * ''

Black and Blues ''Black and Blues'' is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 1990 and released on the Japanese DIW Records, DIW label.

'' (DIW, 1991) * '' Blues Preacher'' (DIW, 1993) * '' Live at the Bayerischer Hof'' (In+Out, 1994) * ''

Music Speaks Louder than Words ''Music Speaks Louder Than Words'' is an album released by Epic Records in 1990. Overview Artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Atlantic Starr, Roberta Flack, Patti LaBelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, Anne Murray and the Cover Girls featured on the album. ...

'' (DIW, 1995) * ''Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman'' (DIW, 1996) * '' Harmolodic Guitar with Strings'' (DIW, 1997) * ''

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

'' (Knitting Factory, 1997) * '' Forbidden Blues'' (DIW, 1998) * '' Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions'' (Label M, 2001) * '' Blue Blood'' (Innerhythmic, 2001) * '' No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions'' (Hyena, 2003) * ''Guitar Music'' (Dernière Bande, 2003) – with Rodolphe Burger * '' Back in Time'' ( Pi, 2005) * ''

Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

'' (Hyena, 2005) * '' Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions'' (Hyena, 2007) * '' In and Out'' (In+Out, 2009) * ''Black Rock Reunion'' (American Revelation, 2009) * ''Blues Odyssey'' (American Revelation, 2010) * ''Live at Birdland'' (American Revelation, 2010) * ''Freelancing Live'' (American Revelation, 2013) With Music Revelation Ensemble * '' No Wave'' (

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (d ...

, 1980) * '' Music Revelation Ensemble'' ( DIW, 1988) * '' Elec. Jazz'' (DIW, 1990) * '' After Dark'' (DIW, 1992) * '' In the Name of...'' (DIW, 1994) * '' Knights of Power'' (DIW, 1996) * '' Cross Fire'' (DIW, 1997) With Phalanx * '' Got Something Good for You'' (Moers Music, 1986) * '' Original Phalanx'' (DIW, 1987) * '' In Touch'' (DIW, 1988) * ''Phalanx Live'' (American Revelation, 2013) With Third Rail * ''South Delta Space Age'' (Antilles, 1995)

As sideman

, ''Rashied Ali Quintet'' (Survival, 1973) *

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from v ...

, ''Conversations'' (In+Out, 1994) * Arthur Blythe, ''

'' (Columbia, 1979) * Arthur Blythe, ''

'' (Columbia, 1980) * James Carter, '' Out of Nowhere'' (Half Note, 2005) *

, ''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 Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

, ''Borders of Disorderly Time'' (Bola, 2003) *

, '' Multiple'' (Milestone, 1973) *

, '' Sounds from the Marr-Ket Place'' (King, 1968) * David Murray, ''

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'' (DIW, 1986) * John Patton, '' Accent on the Blues'' (Blue Note, 1969) * John Patton, '' Memphis to New York Spirit'' (Blue Note, 1996) * Rochester/Veasley Band, ''One Minute of Love'' (Gramavision, 1985) *

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 ...

'' (MCA, 2002) *

Juma Sultan Juma Sultan (born April 13, 1942) is a jazz musician, most often recording as a percussionist or bass player. He may be best known for his appearance at the Woodstock festival of 1969 at Bethel, New York, playing with Jimi Hendrix. He currently p ...

, ''Whispers from the Archive'' (Porter, 2012) *

Jamaaladeen Tacuma Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) is an American free jazz bassist born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's P ...

, ''Show Stopper'' (Gramavision, 1983) *

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...

, '' Political Blues'' (Justin Time, 2006) * Frank Wright, '' Blues for Albert Ayler'' (ESP Disk, 2012) * Larry Young, ''

Lawrence of Newark ''Lawrence of Newark'' is a jazz album by organist/keyboardist Larry Young, released on the Perception Records label. The album is Young's debut for Perception Records which has since been reissued on CD by Castle Records. Perception Records we ...

'' (Perception, 1973)

References

External links

* * including detailed discography
A 1998 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulmer, James Blood 1942 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Free funk guitarists Soul-jazz musicians American blues guitarists American male guitarists American jazz guitarists American jazz singers American blues singers 20th-century African-American male singers American male singers Singers from New York City People from St. Matthews, South Carolina Pi Recordings artists DIW Records artists Columbia Records artists Moers Music artists Musicians from Pittsburgh Singers from Pennsylvania Guitarists from Pennsylvania Guitarists from New York City Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Phalanx (band) members African-American guitarists 21st-century African-American musicians