''Are You Glad to Be in America?'' is an album by American guitarist

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragge ...

, 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 Mayo Thompson (born February 26, 1944 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the experimental rock band Red Krayola. Background His formal education includes Garden of Arts Kind ...

. A remixed version, credited to Ulmer and Bob Blank, with a different running order and new cover art, was released by the

Artists House Artists House was a jazz and blues record company and label established in 1977 by John Snyder. History The label released music by artists that label founder John Snyder had worked with while running the Horizon subsidiary of A&M Records, includ ...

label in the US in 1981.James "Blood" Ulmer discography
accessed January 12, 2018 The album was released on CD with a new third mix by Joe Ferla, but the original running order, and with a new cover design featuring a recent photo of Ulmer, on the Japanese DIW label in 1995.

Critical reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Nathan Bush stated: "Shards of jazz, rock, funk, and surf guitar are shuffled together and unfurl in frenetic lines. At times the rhythms are too rigid and the results sound like an experiment from which the musicians are trying to break free. At best, the individuals lose themselves in a highly charged dialogue".Bush, N.

AllMusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed July 9, 2010 ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' describes ''Are You Glad to Be in America?'' as an "exceptionally fine" album that "reveals a staggering understanding of the roots of jazz, dance music, Eastern polyrhythms and harmolodic textures in a lively sound mix.... e music fairly crackles."

Track listing (original Rough Trade LP and remixed Japanese CD)

:''All compositions by James Blood Ulmer'' # "Layout" – 5:02 # "Pressure" – 3:48 # "Interview" – 3:06 # "Jazz Is the Teacher (Funk is the Preacher)" – 4:19 # "See-Through" – 3:50 # "Time Out" – 5:19 # "T.V. Blues" – 4:32 # "Light Eyed" – 3:56 # "Revelation March" – 3:18 # "Are You Glad to Be in America?" – 4:37 :''Recorded at RCA Studios, New York City on January 17, 1980.''

Personnel

– guitar, vocals * David Murray –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

–

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Olu Dara Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III, January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas. Early life Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941 in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, El ...

– trumpet *Billy Patterson (

Spaceman Patterson William "Spaceman" Patterson is a guitarist and producer, who has collaborated with Miles Davis, James Brown and Frank Ocean. History Spaceman Patterson was one of the musicians in Miles Davis' touring line-up in the 1980s. In 1992, Patterso ...

) – rhythm guitar (track 4) *Amin Ali – electric bass * G. Calvin Weston,

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

– drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Are You Glad To Be In America? James Blood Ulmer albums Artists House albums Rough Trade Records albums DIW Records albums 1980 albums