Customer Reviews

Tales of Captain Black

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This is a classic recording by my man "Blood". It features Denardo and Ornette Coleman and is free form funk with the Coleman harmolodic thing goin on throughout. Funky grooves with that strange avant garde twist is essential blood.The most incredible thing about him is his non-conformity that was so obvious right off the bat.I think the bassist is Jamaladeen Tacuma anyway, this is the straight dope from Blood before he tried to slicken it up and play more conventional rock and blues that never really behooved the man.A must have for Blood's fans!

An album that desparately deserves to be put back in print, James "Blood" Ulmer's recording debut, "Tales from Captain Black", finds the guitarist stepping into his own as a leader. With mentor Ornette Coleman blowing alto and Coleman's son Denardo serving as drummer, it would be quite possible that this record would simply be a Coleman record under another man's name, but it's not. Working with bass wizard Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the string players manage to define the voice of the record.

The great addition to the concept of harmolodic music this record really exposes is tight interaction between rhythm section and melody. Tacuma solos underneath all of Ulmer's solos, and often both are soloing underneath Coleman's reedy alto. Underneath it all, Denardo maintains a rhythmic pulse while responding to and frequently quoting the rest of the musicians. This sort of collective improvisation has always been present in the best of Coleman's records, but with such a sympathetic group, it comes out cleanly. The other thing this group does is drag the music a bit further out of the jazz idiom-- it's clear that Ulmer and Tacuma come from a background more seeped in funk and soul jazz, because the blues tinge that infects Coleman's record (not necessarily a bad thing) is far deemphasized on this rcord.

A good example of this is "Nothing to Say"-- Ornette blows a sing-song melody line, Ulmer is seeped in deep South blues, Denardo is freely associating with them, and Tacuma sits in his own universe. But as disjoint as it sounds, the record thrives off this sort of tenuousness and tension.

But this is an album that's quite hard to find-- and at 33 minutes or so in length, its difficult to justify the expensive used market or import prices. Still, its one of the great lost albums in free jazz/funk, and is essential listening for fans of Ulmer or Coleman. Highly recommended.

An album that desparately deserves to be put back in print, James "Blood" Ulmer's recording debut, "Tales from Captain Black", finds the guitarist stepping into his own as a leader. With mentor Ornette Coleman blowing alto and Coleman's son Denardo serving as drummer, it would be quite possible that this record would simply be a Coleman record under another man's name, but it's not. Working with bass wizard Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the string players manage to define the voice of the record.

The great addition to the concept of harmolodic music this record really exposes is tight interaction between rhythm section and melody. Tacuma solos underneath all of Ulmer's solos, and often both are soloing underneath Coleman's reedy alto. Underneath it all, Denardo maintains a rhythmic pulse while responding to and frequently quoting the rest of the musicians. This sort of collective improvisation has always been present in the best of Coleman's records, but with such a sympathetic group, it comes out cleanly. The other thing this group does is drag the music a bit further out of the jazz idiom-- it's clear that Ulmer and Tacuma come from a background more seeped in funk and soul jazz, because the blues tinge that infects Coleman's record (not necessarily a bad thing) is far deemphasized on this rcord.

A good example of this is "Nothing to Say"-- Ornette blows a sing-song melody line, Ulmer is seeped in deep South blues, Denardo is freely associating with them, and Tacuma sits in his own universe. But as disjoint as it sounds, the record thrives off this sort of tenuousness and tension.

But this is an album that's quite hard to find-- and at 33 minutes or so in length, its difficult to justify the expensive used market or import prices. Still, its one of the great lost albums in free jazz/funk, and is essential listening for fans of Ulmer or Coleman. Highly recommended.

This album from 1978 marked Ulmers debut and it's startling. He combines angular playing and odd harmodolic theories derived from his mentor Ornette Coleman (who is superb on Alto here!), along with a sound that betrays the influence of Hendrix.

This album is a must own for any fan of alternate/avant garde jazz/rock.

Much of Ulmers early work (though not as powerful as the debut) is great and criminally out of print - available only as bootlegs or through trader networks.

Interested listeners should also check out Odyssey, Free Lancing and Black Rock - these combine strong funk-rock and R&B influences - not unlike their near contemporary Defunkt

James Ulmer is one of the finest guitar players in the jazz world. He was influenced by Hendrix, but developed his own style. On this album, he plays with Ornette Coleman. The guitar is hard driving and uncompromising. His closest cousin would be Sonny Sharrock. Also try Odyssey the Band on Knitting Factory.

This is quite easily the finest blend of the Avant Garde with Jazz Fusion. James Ulmer is an amazing talent - he could have been the next Ornette Coleman or Jimi Hendrix - his 2 chief influences. Pity then that nearly 30 years after this stunning debut he remains a relative unknown.

His subsequent efforts have only repeated what this album started out. Recent years have seen some spirited blues recordings - impressive but a lot more on the beaten track than his beginnings

I bought this album when it first came out in the late 70's. I was fairly new to jazz, but had heard of Ornette Coleman, so I figured I would take a chance. This record (yeah, my copy is vinyl) changed the way I listened to music forever. Although you can certainly hear Coleman's powerful influence on all the musicians - from the style of the compositions to the structure and tenor of the improvisations - the creativity of James Blood Ulmer leaps out at you like a superhero leaping a tall building in a single bound. Ulmer somehow manages to blend funk, blues, and "harmolodics" so smoothly that even many of my friends who don't like "free jazz" enjoy this album. It is also refreshing to hear Ornette Coleman as a sideman, taking a traditional "solo" - in ways he rarely does on his own stuff. If much of Ornette's music - and perhaps some of Ulmer's work doesn't appeal to you - try this one. It might just change your life.