James Blood Ulmer

Guitarist / composer James Blood Ulmer's stuttering, vocalic attack offered texturally and chordally based lines across jazz, blues, funk, R&B, and gospel. Deeply influenced by Ornette Coleman's harmolodic theory, his debut Tales of Captain Black appeared in 1979. 1980's Are You Glad to Be in America? charted in the U.K. He released influential '80s albums for Columbia -- Free Lancing, Black Rock, and Odyssey -- and co-founded and recorded with Phalanx and Music Revelation Ensemble. He recorded titles for Japan's DIW label including Harmolodic Guitar with Strings (1993), and worked with Bill Laswell in Third Rail on 1995's South Delta Space Age. He collaborated with guitarist Vernon Reid on 2001's Memphis Blood, 2003's No Escape from the Blues, and 2007's Bad Blood in the City. In 2017 he collaborated with the Thing on Baby Talk. Ulmer played his final gig on September 1, 2024, at the Detroit Jazz Festival.