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Odyssey the Band
Odyssey the Band: Back in Time
by Kurt Gottschalk
The significance of James Blood Ulmer's Odyssey trio is a bit of backhanded praise. It's a good band for sure, but its value is enhanced by the fact that Ulmer has rarely had standing bands worthy of his potential. He should have had stronger projects and more great records, considering what a great guitarist he is. In 1983, when Odyssey the record showed up, Ulmer was on the rise. Having released the landmark Tales of Captain Black in 1978, he ...
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by Paul Olson
Guitarist/vocalist James Blood Ulmer has managed to recreate himself as a bluesman in the last few years, as he convincingly demonstrated on last year's Birthright (Hyena). On that set of unaccompanied solo pieces, Ulmer somehow made his wildly unique unison tuning and Ornette-derived harmolodic sensibility sound like the very essence of the blues. It was the best blues recording in years.Yet Ulmer is much more than a blues player. His playing on seminal albums like Tales of Captain ...
read moreOdyssey the Band featuring James "Blood" Ulmer, Charles Burnham, and Warren Benbow Releases "Back in Time" on Pi Recordings
Source:
All About Jazz
The role of the guitar in jazz has not mirrored its role in other modern musics. Few have risen to prominence on the instrument or grown out of the supporting role it has typically played in jazz. Of those who have, one of the most notable is James Blood" Ulmer. From his first days as Ornette Coleman's Harmolodic guitarist in Prime Time, Blood's" path to guitar innovator was a rather fast one. In the ten year period between '73, when ...
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