James Blood Ulmer

This article is about the musician. For the entertainment journalist, see James Ulmer (journalist).

James Blood Ulmer
Photo by Christian Sahm
Background information
Birth name	James Ulmer
Also known as	Damu Mustafa Abdul Musawwir
Born	February 2, 1942 (1942-02-02) St. Matthews, South Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, free funk, blues, electric blues
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Hyena, Rough Trade, Sony Records, Columbia Records, Blue Note, DIW Records, Pi Records, In and Out, Artists House, Innerhythmic, Antilles Records, Moers Music, Survival/Knitting Factory
Associated acts	Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali, Larry Young,
Website	Myspace.com/jamesbloodulmer

James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 2, 1942) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer's distinctive guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging." His singing has been called "raggedly soulful."

Biography

Ulmer was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina. He began his career playing with various soul jazz ensembles, first in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1959-1964, and then in the Columbus, Ohio region, from 1964-1967. He first recorded with organist John Patton in 1969. After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali 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, and Coleman's strong reliance on electric guitar in his fusion-oriented recordings owes a distinct debt to Ulmer.

He formed a group called the Music Revelation Ensemble with David Murray and Ronald Shannon Jackson, with whom he recorded throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Different incarnations of the group also featured Julius Hemphill, Arthur Blythe, Sam Rivers, and Hamiet Bluiett on saxophones and flutes. In the 1980s he co-led, with saxophonist George Adams, the ensemble Phalanx.

1983's Odyssey, with drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham, was described as "avant-gutbucket," leading writer Bill Milkowski to describe the music as "conjuring images of Skip James and Albert Ayler jamming on the Mississippi Delta."

Ulmer has recorded many albums as a leader, including three recent acclaimed blues-oriented records produced by Vernon Reid. He also performs solo.

Ulmer was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

In a 2005 Down Beat interview, Ulmer opined that guitar technique had not advanced since the death of Jimi Hendrix. He stated that technique could advance "if the guitar would stop following the piano," and indicated that he tunes all of his guitar strings to A.

In spring 2011, Ulmer joined saxophone luminary James Carter's organ trio as a special guest along with Nicholas Payton on trumpet for a six-night stand of performances at Blue Note New York.

Discography

As leader

• Revealing (In + Out, 1977)
• Tales of Captain Black (Artists House, 1978)
• Are You Glad to Be in America? (Rough Trade, 1980)
• Free Lancing (Columbia, 1981)
• Black Rock (Columbia, 1982)
• Odyssey (Columbia, 1984)
• Live at the Caravan of Dreams (Caravan of Dreams, 1985)
• America - Do You Remember the Love? (Blue Note, 1987)
• Wings (Jazz File, 1988)
• Blues Allnight (In + Out, 1989)
• Black and Blues (DIW, 1990)
• Blues Preacher (DIW/Columbia, 1992)
• Harmolodic Guitar with Strings (DIW, 1993)
• Live at the Bayerischer Hof (In + Out, 1994)
• Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman - Music Speaks Louder Than Words (DIW, 1995)
• Forbidden Blues (DIW, 1996)
• Blue Blood (Innerhythmic, (2001)
• Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions (Hyena Records, 2003)
• No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions (M, 2003)
• Birthright (Hyena, 2005)
• Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions (Hyena, 2007)
• In and Out (In + Out, 2010)

With Odyssey the Band

• Odyssey (Columbia, 1983)
• Part Time (Rough Trade, 1983)
• Reunion (Knitting Factory, 1997)
• Back in Time (Pi Records, 2005)

With Music Revelation Ensemble

• No Wave (Moers, 1980)
• Music Revelation Ensemble (DIW, 1988)
• Electric Jazz (DIW, 1990)
• After Dark (DIW, 1991)
• In the Name of... (DIW, 1993)
• Cross Fire (DIW, 1996)

With Phalanx

• Phalanx (Moers, 1985)
• Original Phalanx (DIW, 1987)
• In Touch (DIW, 1988)
• Got Something (Moers, 1991)

With Third Rail

• South Delta Space Age (Antilles, 1995)

With Rodolphe Burger

• Blood & Burger: Guitar Music (Wagram/Dernière Bande, 2003)

As sideman

• Hank Marr: Sounds from the Marr-ket Place (King, 1967, rec.1964)
• John Patton: Accent on the Blues (Blue Note, 1969)
• John Patton: Memphis to New York Spirit (Blue Note, 1970)
• Larry Young: Lawrence of Newark (Perception, 1973)
• Rashied Ali Quintet: Rashied Ali Quintet (Survival, 1973)
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown (Columbia, 1979)
• Arthur Blythe: Illusions (Columbia, 1980)
• Jamaaladeen Tacuma: Show Stopper (Gramavision, 1982–83)
• David Murray: Children (Black Saint, 1984)
• David Murray: Recording N.Y.C. 1986 (DIW, 1986)
• Grant Calvin Weston with James "Blood" Ulmer and Jamaaladeen Tacuma: Dance Romance (In + Out, 1988)
• Riot: The Privilege of Power (CBS, 1990)
• Jayne Cortez & the Firesplitters: Borders of Disorderly Time (Bola Press, 2003)
• James Carter Organ Trio with Special Guests: Out of Nowhere: Live at the Blue Note (Half Note, 2004)
• World Saxophone Quartet: Political Blues (Justin Time, 2006)

TV appearances

• SOLOS: The Jazz Sessions (Bravo! Canada, 2004)

External links

• James Blood Ulmer at Allmusic
• Hyena Records
• A 1998 Interview
• James Blood Ulmer Online Archive including detailed discography