Results for "James Blood Ulmer"

Queen Esther

Born: June 30

Solo Performer. Vocalist. Topliner. Writer. Musician. Songwriter. Playwright. Librettist. Actor. TED Speaker.

Described as “...the unknown queen of Americana…” (Feedback, Norway), “..a Black Lucinda Williams…” and a “...brutal, original, explosive singer…”  (Vanity Fair, Spain), Queen Esther’s creative output musically is the culmination of several critical Southern elements, not the least of which are years of recording and touring internationally as frontwoman for several projects with her mentor, harmolodic guitar icon James “Blood” Ulmer, including a stint in his seminal band Odyssey.  Raised in Atlanta, GA and embedded in Charleston, SC’s Lowcountry – a region with African traditions and Black folkways that span centuries and constantly inform her work –  Queen Esther uses her Southern roots as a touchstone to explore cultural mores in America, deconstructing well-worn historical narratives while creating a reclamation-driven soundscape.  

Bobby Previte: Boom-Boom. Due volte Boom

by Vic Albani
October 3, 2022

Dopo sostanziali anni di attività per certi versi limitata, il genio Bobby Previte torna a cavalcare comete musicali di infinita bellezza e intelligenza. Credo esistano ben pochi musicisti così profondi, analitici, curiosi ed allo stesso tempo così schivi e umili come Previte, da sempre nel cuore di ogni illuminato cultore di musiche moderne. Illuminato ...

Charlie Ballantine: Reflections/Introspection: The Music Of Thelonious Monk

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 1, 2022

Reflections/Introspection... follows-up guitarist Charlie Ballentine's Life is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan, the guitarist's tribute to another (and very different type of) iconoclastic modern composer and one of the best albums of 2018. He absolutely bounces through this double-LP (one trio, one quartet) on a merry joyride through the compositions of “the onliest Monk."

Rediscovery and Re-Creation, and an NYC Farewell

by Chris M. Slawecki
December 26, 2021

Greg Abate Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron Whaling City Sound 2021 Musicians will sometimes honor another musician who influenced their lives or work with a tribute or memorial recording after that influential musician has passed on. There's an abundance of first-rate music on the ...

Charnett Moffett: New Love

by Jerome Wilson
September 2, 2021

If one thing is obvious from this CD, it is that electric bassist Charnett Moffett is a happy man these days. His playing leaps out of the speakers on these tracks with joy and high spirits. That may be because he works here in the company of his “new love," his wife, guitarist Jana Herzen. The ...

Gustafsson / McPhee / Håker Flaten / Nilssen-Love: The Thing She Knows...

by Chris May
August 22, 2021

The Hat Hut and ezz-thetics family of labels is in 2021 just three years shy of its fiftieth anniversary. This is a remarkable, perhaps unique, achievement for an independent company which has concerned itself exclusively with the avant-garde end of jazz and conservatoire music from the get go, and has done so with the highest (for ...

Dave Holland: More Than Just Notes

by Ian Patterson
August 2, 2021

The creative juices, if not the hunger, desert many artists as they advance in years. Repetition and mediocrity--a blunting of the sword--can creep in, while past glories are often left to provide the kindling for flames that never quite catch. Such charges could never be levelled at English bassist Dave Holland, who turns seventy-five in October. ...

Dave Holland: Another Land

by Ian Patterson
August 2, 2021

Though bass legend Dave Holland's entire career has been one marked by adventure, it has been a while since he recorded back-to-back albums with the same working group. Recordings such as Hands (Dare2, 2010), with flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela, the duo outing The Art of Conversation (Impulse! 2014) with Kenny Barron, Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017) with ...

Saxophone Colossi: An Alternative Top Ten Banging Albums

by Chris May
February 18, 2021

Miles Davis once said you could tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker. You might want to add John Coltrane, you might even want to add Davis. But however you cut it, saxophones and trumpets have been the flag bearers of the music. Trumpets got things rolling and saxophones came into ...

Guitar Gods & Goddesses: An Alternative Top Ten Albums

by Chris May
February 4, 2021

Although it has been present in jazz since the 1920s, when it was routinely used in rhythm sections, as a solo instrument the guitar struggled to make itself heard--literally--until the second half of the 1930s, when reliable pick-ups and portable amplifiers became available. Foremost among the pioneers of the electrified instrument was Charlie Christian, a member ...