Revealing

Ornette Coleman (alto sax), James Blood Ulmer (electric guitar), Jamaaledeen Tacuma (electric bass) and Denardo Coleman (drums). From the album Tales of Captain Black (1979).

In 1973 James Blood Ulmer joined Ornette Coleman and was the first guitarist to record and tour with him. He was greatly influenced by him, and in return, Coleman owes Ulmer his deep confidence in the electric guitar in his fusion music. The guitarist’s recordings of the late 1970s and early 1980s show a particular view of his mentor’s aesthetics. His blues and rock was more aggressive than Coleman’s free jazz and funk, but no less intellectually or emotionally convincing. His album Tales of Captain Black marks the true beginning of his leadership.

In 1981 he recorded his first three works for Columbia Records, which helped introduce his music to a broader audience. He also formed the Music Revelation Ensemble with David Murray on tenor saxophone, Amin Ali on double bass and Roland Shannon Jackson on drums, which was active until the mid-1990s. In 1987 he became a member of the Phalanx cooperative quartet, with which he recorded three albums. In 1993 he released his most challenging work, Harmolodic Guitar with Strings, with three violins, a viola and a cello. Since then, Ulmer has continued to play and record in different contexts until today.

This time, Coleman exposes the theme, which is similar to others of his free jazz style. After that Ulmer improvises at his own free will throwing the sound that comes out of his guitar into the air without caring what happens. In his early days, Coleman used melody to create a connection between musicians, but in free funk this doesn’t even exists, it’s individualism taken to its maximum consequences. Next Coleman comes in with a complex and continued speech, but then includes more melodic and organized phrases while the rest of the group follows its disorder below. After a while Coleman starts playing more intensely infected by the band and the piece of music ends without further ado.