Bad Blood in the City: Piety Street Sessions

James Blood Ulmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hyena
• ASIN: B000NVL4S8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,926 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good,but just a little overproduced, May 29, 2007

By 

Rev KM Williams "revkmwilliams" (dallas, tx United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bad Blood in the City: Piety Street Sessions (Audio CD)

Don't get me wrong! I Am a Big Fan of James Blood Ulmer. I feel he has found his calling as a 21th century bluesman;but on this record ,which has a great concept and sound,I feel is a little overproduced;too much studio and not enough of that angular,Ornette Coleman sounding Blood Ulmer guitar(unlike his last disc "Birthright" which was brilliant!)Vernon Reid should have made the production a little more sparce sounding so more of that Blood Ulmer guitar would have come thru. That being said; the compositions on this CD are great and have an important message, I hope commerically, this CD is a success for Blood;because For my ears it's his most popular sounding,blues CD. Just wish it was a little more hardcore Blood Ulmer.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vernon, leave your guitar at home., June 5, 2007

By 

Rick Bulwicz (Central Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Blood in the City: Piety Street Sessions (Audio CD)

I'm a Huge Blood fan, and love all of his music, but this record is a slight let-down. It's in no part due to James Ulmer's performance, but rather Vernon Reid's presence.
James Ulmer's strength is his droning, moody A-tuned guitar with his strong and slightly-garged voice. If you've heard "Birthright" that's Ulmer at his best.
Vernon Reid should remember to leave his guitar at home when producing Ulmer. Reid's 1,000 note-a-minute style just walks all over Ulmer. He is no blues player in the style that Ulmer is. Ulmer can play ONE note and weave it into a feeling. Vernon Reid is always in a race with himself. Combine that with the loud, overly-full production, and James Ulmer is drowned out and lost in the mix. Underneath it all is a great performance by Ulmer. But trying to listen to it through all of that noise is annoying.

4.0 out of 5 stars BIRTHRIGHT fits my conception of 'Captain Black' just fine thank you., September 1, 2011

By 

Sambson (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Blood in the City: Piety Street Sessions (Audio CD)

Alrighty then. I can understand that anyone who thinks BIRTHRIGHT is Ulmer's best, might be a bit overwhelmed by the drastic difference in production with this album...but if you own everything ELSE by JBU you might have a better perspective on just how atypical BIRTHRIGHT really is. Blood did this next 'cause he ain't bout to be pigeon-holed in a corner. Sink your teeth into his old song "Black Rock" and you might just get it. I'm sitting here listening to BAD BLOOD IN THE CITY through headphones and have NO COMPLAINTS. On tunes like "Katrina", "This Land Is Nobody's Land", "Grinnin' In Your Face" and "Backwater Blues"; there's plenty space around the man and I'm not hearing this onslaught of Reid's guitar others have complained about. And even on the tunes where they're both playing I can hear each guitar quite clearly. JB is also playing some bass here too folks. What seems to be missed is that Ulmer's not putting out material for 'the man', ESPECIALLY not on an album about all the stuff that went down with Katrina! I hear arrangements and production on songs like "Sad Days, Lonely Nights", "Commit A Crime" and "Old Slave Master" that sounds like a hurricane stirring up a swamp; but I thought that was the point. Yeah, Vernon Reid is tearin it up at the end of "Commit A Crime" and "Old Slave Master", but if you think he did that without the intention and blessing of Ulmer, you're out of your mind. Heck, I'm HAPPY to hear Ulmer and Reid play together in this context; and I'm betting that's what Ulmer thought too. This is a WONDERFUL follow-up to BIRTHRIGHT and fits my loose conception of who 'Captain Black' is just fine thank you.