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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 hi ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 ...

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 1,841 at the 2020 census, a decline from 2,021 in 2010. It is the county seat of Calhoun County. St. Matthews is part of the Columbia, South Carolina ...

, 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 sa ...

ensembles, first in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, from 1959 to 1964, and then in the

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, area from 1964 to 1967. He recorded with organist

Hank Marr Hank Marr (30 January 1927 – 16 March 2004) was an American 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, ...

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 and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

Paul Bley Paul Bley, Order of Canada, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian 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 per ...

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

, 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, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

; 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 (July 5, 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 ...

'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 ''N ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

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

Warren Benbow Warren Benbow (December 22, 1954 – September 29, 2024) was a drummer who 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, Odyss ...

and violinist Charles Burnham. 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: "Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James' early recordings ...

and

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

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 Yazo ...

." 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, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

. In the 1980s he co-led the quartet

Phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

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 American guitarist and songwriter best known as the founder of the rock band Living Colour. Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Ti ...

: ''Memphis Blood'', ''No Escape from the Blues'', ''Bad Blood in the City'', and ''Birthright''. Ulmer was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent musicians. In a 2005 ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (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 that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' 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 singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. 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 writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life i ...

on trumpet for a six-night stand of performances at

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

New York.

Discography

As leader

* '' Tales of Captain Black'' (Artists House, 1979) * '' Are You Glad to Be in America?'' (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'' (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'' (DIW, 1991) * ''

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'' (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'' (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 No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

'' (

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; 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 (distric ...

, 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 Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

, 1973) *

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (March 30, 1935 – April 9, 2023) was a German-American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. He was a leading figure in jazz improvisation from the 1960s when he settled in the United States for life. He founde ...

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

, ''

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

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

, ''Celebrate Ornette'' (Song X 2016) *

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter 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, and h ...

, ''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. Her writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She was married to jazz saxophonist ...

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

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

, ''

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 label in 1968.David Murray, ''

Children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

'' (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, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

, ''

Phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

'' (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 pl ...

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

Jamaaladeen Tacuma Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) is an American jazz funk avant-garde bassist, composer and producer born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 197 ...

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

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet was 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 ''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 on ...

'' (Justin Time, 2006) * Frank Wright, ''

Blues for Albert Ayler ''Blues for Albert Ayler'' is a live album by saxophonist Frank Wright (jazz musician), Frank Wright. It was recorded at Ali's Alley in New York City on July 17, 1974, and was released in 2012 by ESP-Disk. On the album, Wright is joined by guitar ...

'' (ESP Disk, 2012) * Larry Young, '' Lawrence of Newark'' (Perception, 1973)

References

External links

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