Results for "James Blood Ulmer"

Musician

James Blood Ulmer

Born: February 8, 1940

Free jazz has not produced many notable guitarists. Experimental musicians drawn to the guitar have had few jazz role models; consequently, they've typically looked to rock-based players for inspiration. James "Blood" Ulmer is one of the few exceptions—an outside guitarist who has forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman's vaguely defined Harmolodic theory, which essentially subverts jazz's harmonic component in favor of freely improvised, non-tonal, or quasi-modal counterpoint. Ulmer plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his lines are frequently texturally and chordally based, inflected with the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. That's not to say his sound is untouched by the rock tradition—the influence of Jimi Hendrix on Ulmer is strong—but it's mixed with blues, funk, and free jazz elements. The resultant music is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid that is, at its best, on a level with the finest of the Harmolodic school.

Article: Album Review

CC Syndicate: Flying High

by Ian Patterson
August 25, 2026

The CC is Peruvian drummer-composer Cote Calmet; the Syndicate is a jazz-funk quartet baring multiple musical signposts. Based in Granada after a decade in Ireland, Calmet has found new creative energy under the Spanish sun. In Andalusia, he has reactivated both Phisqa, his Afro-Peruvian jazz quintet, and CEO(L) Experiment, after long periods of hibernation. African and ...

Video

Phalanx Revisited - Timeless

Featuring the music of James Blood Ulmer
Duration: 06:59
July 12, 2026

Guitarist/singer James "Blood" Ulmer cut a distinct path. Or, rather, he followed multiple paths that he merged into a ground-breaking concept. Beginning the early ‘70s. he played with avant garde alto sax icon Ornette Coleman and his group, refining the concept of "harmolodics." The concept gave equal weight to melody, harmony and rhythm to liberate performance from stale patterns. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Ulmer put more weight on thrashy deep blues. Ulmer “squared the circle” of playing blues, jazz, rock and funk all at the same time by open tuning his guitar, which could sound slightly detuned, and strumming clusters of notes. Here, he’s complemented by emerging saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and his band playing a free groove and throwing in vocals. Ulmer passed away, June 3, 2026.

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Miles Okazaki, Camila Nebbia/Chris Corsano & Dan Phillips

by Maurice Hogue
July 6, 2026

My last memory of Wyoming was 50-some years ago when I arrived at the bus depot in Cheyenne. I needed to eat so headed for the cafeteria where I asked the grizzled old ex-cowboy behind the serving counter what was good. He said try the chili, whereupon he waved a ladle over the chili tureen and ...

Article: Live Review

Marshall Allen, Trae Crudup, Black Cherry, and DoYeon Kim At Vision Festival 2026

by Fran Kursztejn
July 2, 2026

Marshall Allen, Trae Cruddup, Hamid Drake, William Parker, DoYeon Kim Abrons Arts Center Vision Festival June 26, 2026 Creative music (in William Parker's words, “so-called jazz") is an old scene in New York City. Ornette Coleman at least nominally birthed the “free jazz" movement in the '60s, and ever since, the ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Mal Waldron, Bria Skonberg, and James Blood Ulmer (RIP)

by Jerome Wilson
June 24, 2026

This episode features a tribute to the late guitarist James Blood Ulmer. It also contains music from Mal Waldron, Bria Skonberg, Leigh Pilzer and others. Due to technical difficulties, the recording begins in the middle of the first selection.Playlist Andrew Hill “Cantarnos" from Black Fire (Blue Note) 00:00 Paul Hecht “Wayne" from Pyrography II ...

Article: Big Band in the Sky

Remembering James Blood Ulmer: The Incognito Bluesman

by Ian Patterson
June 15, 2026

James Blood Ulmer, the pioneering electric guitarist and singer who first came to prominence in New York in the early '70s, has died at the age of 86. His extraordinarily visceral guitar style--ragged, choppy, spluttering yet deeply emotive--was instantly recognizable. Post-Jimi Hendrix, Ulmer was one of just a handful of guitarists to alter the language of ...

News: Obituary

James Blood Ulmer: February 8, 1940 - June 3, 2026

June 8, 2026

With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist, singer, composer, and beloved family member. James died peacefully on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at the age of 86. Born on February 8, 1940, the eldest of eight children, Blood grew up in rural, deeply segregated St. Matthews, ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Archie Shepp's The Magic of Ju-Ju, Serbian Improvisors + New Releases from Caroline Davis, Ishmael Ali, Phil Haynes, Rodrigo Amado and others

by Jon Greenbaum
May 10, 2026

Creative improvisors from Chicago to Brooklyn to Serbia.Playlist 8 Bold Souls “Chapel Hill" from 8 Bold Souls (Sessoms) 00:00 Archie Shepp “The Magic of Ju-Ju" from The Magic of Ju-Ju (Impulse) 12:31 Ishmael Ali “Anathema" from Burn The Plastic, Sell The Copper (Amalgam) 32:04 São Paulo Underground “Evetch" from Beija Flors Velho E Sujo ...

Article: In Pictures

Vision Festival 2024

by Luciano Rossetti
September 13, 2024

A collection of photos from the Vision Festival 2024 in Brooklyn at the Roulette Theatre, from June 18 to June 23, 2024 featuring William Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Dave Burrell, Matthew Shipp, Orrin Evans, Darius Jones, Ingrid Laubrock, Jen Shyu, Ava Mendoza, James Blood Ulmer, Amina Claudine Myers, Isaiah Collier, Marshall Allen Sun Ra Arkestra, Rob ...