James Blood Ulmer’s music isequal parts blues, free jazz, funk and a lot of other things. He’s a ferocious guitarist whose playing is tinted with shades of JimiHendrix, Sonny Sharrock, Gary Lucas and Son House, but his work is verystrongly his own.
Ulmer has collaborated with Ornette Coleman, Vernon Reid,Bill Laswell, Art Blakey, Rashied Ali and countless others in his long andvaried career. There’s no other guitarist quite like him.
Ulmer recently spoke with Seven Days by phone from his home in NewYork City, in advance of his concert at the Flynn. The conversation beganwith a consideration of the best route to take when driving from New York Cityto Burlington.
Seven Days: There areso many different traditions winding through your music: blues, jazz, funk,soul, gospel. How do you define yourself, musically speaking? Does it evenmatter?
James Blood Ulmer: What I’m trying to be, what I’ll hopefully be, is … a change in music. I came up with a guitarstyle that was a totally different change, that sounds different from theregular sound of the guitar. … I’m always trying to make a difference, tryingto upgrade. Well, not upgrade, but change. I’m a guy who always wanted to takemy guitar at high noon and play it at a Baptist church on Sunday … I’d like to play my guitar for the Baptist folks and have them notthrow me out the door.
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