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 m ...
,
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 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 s ...
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 of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
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, 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's Jazz Messengers,
Joe Henderson,
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; 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 epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'', 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."
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, and
John Zorn. 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 ...
with saxophonist
George Adams. Ulmer has recorded as a leader, including
blues-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.
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 c ...
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)
* ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'' (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: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel.
History
Known earliest from 1186, the county of Mo ...
, 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
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 ...
, ''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, ''
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 ...
'' (Columbia, 1979)
* Arthur Blythe, ''
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 ...
'' (Columbia, 1980)
*
James Carter, ''
Out of Nowhere'' (Half Note, 2005)
*
Ornette Coleman, ''Celebrate Ornette'' (Song X 2016)
*
Ry Cooder, ''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)
*
Joe Henderson, ''
Multiple'' (Milestone, 1973)
*
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 ...
, ''
Sounds from the Marr-Ket Place'' (King, 1968)
*
David Murray, ''
Children'' (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, ''
Phrenology'' (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