James “Blood” Ulmer is a guitarist
filed in our jazz section, but don’t hold that against him. One quick listen to
the distortion-laden soloing in “Night Lover” starting right around 3:25 and
running into the tumult he’s creating just under a minute later tells you he’s
as beholden to electric blues and rock guitar as to the clean, single-note
picked lines that the phrase “jazz guitar” usually calls to mind. Or you could
start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) with the lead cut
“Timeless” and in less than a minute you’ll know that though Blood Ulmer may
know and respect Wes, Django, and Grant, he’s got no use for their gentility
and clean tones. Hendrix and Delta Blues are his sonic touchstones and the loose-knit
harmonic freedom of his former bandleader Ornette Coleman his conceptual one,
and his career - a varied mix that lands him in our jazz section because of the
Ornette connection but could just as easily find him solidly placed in the blues
section - is a remarkable one that continues unabated to this day.
Free Lancing is his third released
album, and one that found him signed to Columbia Records, who worked with him
for three (very good) albums before cutting him loose, when the mid-1980s
ushered in a different kind of jazz than Ulmer was making. Which is what,
exactly? I often see this called "free funk" or "jazz-rock"
or something hyphenated that suggests that its mixture of jazz, funk, R&B,
blues, and rock is as hard for folks to put a finger on and define as Ulmer's
polyglot guitar playing itself.
After growing up in South Carolina, Ulmer bounced around a bit
before finding his way to New York City in 1971. There he played with several
notable ensembles before connecting with 
The album kicks off with
"Timeless" featuring its basic trio: Amin Ali on electric bass and G.
Calvin Weston on drums, providing the galloping rhythm with Ulmer’s sharp,
inquisitive soloing leading the charge, then running non-stop throughout.
Sometimes his playing is delivered in a fast run of notes, or a short cutting
burst that stops on a dime; sometimes he's floating more serenely over the rhythm
before taking an abrupt turn back into the maelstrom. And sometimes the whole
group becomes untethered, relishing in noise for its own sake before snapping
back into the gallop on command. But then the sound and fury of the lead cut
changes abruptly into the funky soul of "Pleasure Control" where
Ulmer's vocals get as raw as his guitar sometimes, though they're not as
omnipresent as his constant guitar. This track sounds like an errant outtake
from some funk group’s recording sessions where they revved up the tempos, let
the guitar cut loose, and brought in the female backing singers (and second
guitarist Ronnie Drayton, who's along on all three vocal tracks) just for fun
before getting back to the business of making slow burns. But it sounds great.
And it's followed by the aforementioned "Night Lover," another
burning trio instrumental that even finds a snatch of melody from Ulmer’s
“Tales of Captain Black” sneaking into his soloing. We get another vocal funk
cut in "Where Did All the Girls Come From," which sports the
mellowest rhythm yet, then the original side-ender of "High Time" which
pulls the horn section from the previous album for a funky instrumental track.
The second half progresses similarly
- trio plus horns on the fast funky opener "Hijack," another vocal
cut in "Stand Up To Yourself," and the mellowest cut the basic trio
put on the album, "Happy Time," which ends the record on a fade that
insinuates they could keep on going all night if you asked them. But in between
those, there are a couple more standouts of note. On the record's title track,
Ulmer cuts loose with the wildest guitar playing of the record, in what sounds
like slide work (but I don't think it is). And "Rush Hour," another
funky, horn-accented track with a quick, staccato rhythm features an uncredited
harmonica player and saxophonist David Murray taking a burning solo - or
perhaps duet is more appropriate, seeing as he's entangled throughout his solo with
Ulmer blurring the line between comping support and soloing on his own, a trick
straight out of Ornette’s book.
Hopefully this isn't your first
encounter with Ulmer. And if it is, hopefully it's not your last. Throughout
the 1980s, Ulmer continued to pump out great albums - Free Lancing is only the tip of the iceberg. Find the
never-on-a-domestic CD Black Rock if
you can (keep an eye on the used vinyl bins!), or the superb
guitar/drums/violin trio Odyssey,
which finds Ulmer exploring a country-ish vibe for much of the album. Or
pretty much anything by his more exploratory jazz-centered groups Music
Revelation Ensemble or Phalanx. Or one of his more straight-up blues albums,
particularly those produced by Vernon Reid (and especially Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions or No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions). Or maybe
his most recent album Baby Talk, a
live collaboration with European free jazz trio The Thing. Are you getting the
idea that you more or less can't step wrong with Ulmer? Then my review did what
it's supposed to. The catalog keeps appearing and disappearing from being in
print, so take advantage of this one while it's still around, and then start
exploring.
-
Patrick Brown
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