''Harmolodic Guitar with Strings'' 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 "ragg ...
recorded in 1993 and released on the Japanese
DIW label.
[James Blood Ulmer discography](_blank)
accessed July 16, 2010 The album features Ulmer on guitar with the Indigo
String Quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...
performing compositions which expand on
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 Col ...
's theory of
harmolodics Harmolodics is a philosophy of music, musical philosophy and method of musical composition and jazz improvisation, improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970 ...
.
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 dat ...
review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars, and stated, "Throughout the disc there are surprises and long passages of breathtaking beauty. Ulmer's sound and his approach to notational composition are in line with the most inventive of modern composers. His methodology and musical system may be different and uninterested in academic squabbling about harmony and rhythm, but that's ok — he learned a long time ago that if you don't like the way something works musically all you have to do is make up your own musical system. The European academes have nothing on the soulful, sophisticated musicality presented here".
[Jurek, T. ]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 databa ...
accessed July 16, 2010
Track listing
:''All compositions by James Blood Ulmer''
# "Opening" - 1:02
# "Arena: Church" - 2:29
# "Arena: Seven Gates" - 0:43
# "Arena: Arena" - 3:38
# "Arena: Lights Out" - 1:43
# "Arena: Church II" - 2:24
# "Arena: Arena II" - 3:03
# "Page One: In the Name of..." - 2:42
# "Page One: Page One" - 1:42
# "Page One: Blood and John" - 3:11
# "Page One: Page One II" - 0:39
# "Page One: Grand Finale" - 1:35
# "Maya" - 10:35
# "Black Sheep: Prologue" - 0:33
# "Black Sheep: By-Pass" - 1:53
# "Black Sheep: Caretaker" - 1:54
# "Black Sheep: Lost One" - 1:41
# "Black Sheep: Black Sheep" - 1:03
# "Black Sheep: Epilogue" - 0:42
# "Theme From Captain Black" - 7:57
:*Recorded at Eastside Sound, NYC on June, 29, July 9 and July 18, 1993
Personnel
*
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 "ragg ...
-
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...
*
Gayle Dixon -
first violin
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signific ...
*
John Blake -
second violin
*
Ron Lawrence -
viola
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
*
Akua Dixon Turre -
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
References
{{Authority control
DIW Records albums
James Blood Ulmer albums
1993 albums