Thursday, February 26, 2009

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-James Blood Ulmer

Artist:James Blood Ulmer
Song:Love Dance
Album:Odyssey




Guitarist James Blood Ulmer came along at a time when fusion music was very popular. His mix of Ornette Coleman influenced free jazz and gut bucket funk found an audience in the 80s. He's still experimenting today. He was born Feb. 2, 1942 in St. Mathews, SC. He moved to Pittsburgh in 1959 and started out playing in funk bands. He lived in Columbus, OH & Detroit before moving to New York in 1971. Ulmer joined Ornette Coleman's band in 1973 and his time there led to a contract with Columbia in 1981. The 1983 album Odyssey is the third of his three albums for Columbia. The astonishing thing about Odyssey is how Ulmer is able to create such a big sound with only three musicians. Ulmer on guitar, Charles Burnham on violin and Warren Benbow on drums. It's not for everyone but aspiring rappers might be interested in sampling it. In recent years, Ulmer has worked a lot with sax player David Murray and his Music Revelation Ensemble and guitarist Veron Reid who produced Ulmer's 2007 CD Bad Blood In The City: The Piety Street Sessions on Joel Dorn's Hyena label. Here's James Blood Ulmer performing Church in Warsaw, Poland Oct. 1983.

No comments:

Post a Comment