Birthright

James Blood Ulmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: HYENA Records
• ASIN: B0009HLCHE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,557 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #74 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > New York Blues

Editorial Reviews

Seattle Post Intelligencer, May 24, 2005

"The most authentic and important blues preacher since the Rev. Davis...a modern milestone in the story of the blues."

"Ulmer's Birthright, cements his standing as a leading interpreter of the blues...a transcendent and edgy performance by the guitarist."

"...at once meditative and enraged; celebratory and heartbreaking; bathed in folklore but strikingly fresh. Stunning, A+, five stars."

Product Description

James Blood Ulmer is in the midst of a career revival—an artistic renaissance if you will. A new generation of music fans have discovered his music, while at the same time older fans from throughout his 40-year career have shown a renewed fervor for his iconoclastic genius.

Ulmer's previous two recordings, "Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions" and "No Escape From The Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions" led to much recognition, including a Grammy Award nomination, Rolling Stone Magazine "Best Album" honors, a performance at Martin Scorsese blues celebration concert at Radio City Music Hall and high profile appearances with the likes of Government Mule, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.

On Birthright, his latest studio album, Ulmer goes it alone. It’s just he and his guitar singing and playing 12 of the most stark, personal and spellbinding songs he’s ever recorded. The blues hasn’t sounded this honest in a long, long time. It’s clearly the work of an American music legend continuing to reinvent himself, while remaining as musically vital today as at any point in his long and distinguished career.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ulmer's Modern Masterpiece, June 18, 2005

By 

Robert Pawn (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birthright (Audio CD)

I've had the opportunity to see James Blood Ulmer a few times over the last few years. I've become a big fan of his distinct originality on the guitar. He plays with freewheeling abandon and gutteral instinct. Of course, in becoming aware of his music, I picked up copies of the two blues records, Memphis Blood and No Escape From the Blues, as well as some of the older stuff like Odyssey and Freelancing (on vinyl). I love all of those albums. The two blues discs are some of my favorites of current recordings in the genre.

But little prepared me for Birthright, which might just be James Blood Ulmer's masterpiece. It's just James Blood Ulmer here completely solo. The record almost feels ancient. Like a Son House or Robert Johnson recording but in the modern day. Parts of it are haunted as Ulmer digs and slashs on the guitar, his voice trembling with a natural vibrato. Truly Spectacular. Other songs like Geechee Joe and a reworking of his song, Where Did All The Girls Come From, are quite beautiful and imbued with grace. At times the music almost seems like folk art. Ulmer doesn't sound schooled in the blues -- there's not a traditional blues lick to be found. The music sounds like an exorcism -- a natural release of song and sound. Birthright is actually a perfect title because it's exactly what an album like this is. What Ulmer's doing can't be faked. It's his and he owns it.

I highly recommend this to people in search of the real thing -- of real music, of real expression, of real soul. James Blood Ulmer - Birthright is a modern gem and one of the most compelling CDs I've heard all year.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real (New) Old-time Blues, June 17, 2005

By 

Read-Only (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birthright (Audio CD)

When I first heard this album, I thought it was mostly Ulmer covering old and somewhat obscure acoustic blues songs. But in fact, he wrote all but two of the songs. Somehow he was able to capture the spirit of the real old-time blues within his own personal guitar style, which is derived from the very modern harmolodic approach. It is a solo ablum, with him singing on every cut and playing a spacey flute at the very end. Nonetheless, the sound is very rich, and he manages to fill in all the spaces of the music so that you don't feel that anything is missing.

I have liked most of what Blood Ulmer has put out, but this strikes me as being one of his most beautiful albums. It is heartfelt, musically intriguing, and rich in the tradition of the blues. The original blues players wrote songs about their everyday lives and events, mentioning people and places that they knew. Ulmer recaptures this tradition on Geeche Joe, a song about his grandfather, which is extremely touching in his love for the old man and his struggles with life and racial prejudice. And his rearrangment of Sitting on Top of the World is amazing and beautiful.

I heard his previous blues CD, Memphis Blood, and I found it entertaining but not particularly interesting or deep. This CD is all those things, and I expect to return to it often.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The NEW version of Country Blues!!!, May 6, 2006

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Birthright (Audio CD)

This James Blood Ulmer CD is his Best since FREELANCING and TALES OF CAPTAIN BLACK;but actually more innovative because He takes old Country blues and fuses it with his Ornette Coleman harmodelics and he comes up with the most innovative approach to Country Blues since John Lee Hooker;Blood Ulmer has finally found his Calling!!