Search - James ", Blood", Ulmer :: inandout

A GOOD MIXTURE OF JAZZ AND BLUES FROM ULMER 'S TRIO

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 06/11/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"53 minutes in length approximately. The sound is very good-crisp and clean. The separation between the instruments and the voice is very good,containing both depth and spaciousness which is very apparent on listening to this disc. There's no booklet-all the information is on the back of the tri-fold cardboard holder. The inside pages are filled with color photographs of Ulmer and his group. The disc is snapped in,inside the holder.



This new release by James "Blood" Ulmer is a continuation of the direction he's been on with his last several releases (and even back to his fine albums in the 80's),except his fine solo release,which took a left turn into deep blues/spiritual material. Along with Ulmer-guitar,flute and vocals,the trio heard here consists of Mark Peterson-electric and acoustic bass,and Aubrey Dayle-drums. All the songs were written by James Ulmer,and the album was recorded in Germany,in 2008. Why we're getting to hear these tracks only now is a mystery-but better late than never,especially for someone like Ulmer,who records sparingly.



With this release,Ulmer seems to be going back towards his days of incorporating fairly free-form jazz with a blues undertone. This is not to say that this album is free-form "noise" as some listeners have said in the past,for each composition has a definite rhythm,with a recognizable beginning and ending. Ulmer's vocals are used sparingly,with his guitar doing all (or almost all) the talking that needs to be done. His rhythm section is one of his better groups,especially Dayle,whose drumming is almost as important as Ulmer's guitar. Dayle's drum fills and his penchant for playing softly when the need arises really lifts these compositions to another level. In Ulmer's guitar sound,every now and again there's a slight Hendrix influence,but not so much as to detract from his own individual style and sound. Peterson's bass,whether electric or acoustic gives this music a firm foundation,with subtle fills and some contrapuntal playing with Ulmer,which is very satisfying. While the trio's approach to each song is similar,each track has its own identity-various tempos are used,sometimes within the same composition,which help give this album an overall feel which is very satisfying. Never a great vocalist (listen to "Maya",a love song),Ulmer rightly relies on his guitar (and the other members of the trio) to reach out and capture listeners on this album.



If you liked Ulmer's solo album from a while back,this is not that unique sound. This collection of tunes is Ulmer (arguably) doing what he does best-combining the blues with some subtle yet fierce jazz playing,and along with the other members of the trio,he has put together some fine,blues based songs full of his trademark guitar sound. This (like his other albums) isn't made for background listening-this music demands to be listened to. That's fine,for the rewards are many."