Saturday, April 9, 2011

James Blood Ulmer @ Jazz Standard 3/27/11

Yes, I made it back for the very last set of the run. Recall, I had also been to the very first set. They started with the same brilliant song with all the phenomenal solos without James. Only a few other songs were the same. No Red Rooster this set, but it was a great set. James was calling out the songs, making jokes, and very happy. I don't remember him talking the first show. I heard he only talked a little the first set of that evening.

Sister Esther was invited onstage to sing. It was her birthday. She has a good blues voice and fit in well.

It was a wonderful set and I got out of there with just enough time hussle down to the Vanguard.

James Blood Ulmer – vocals, guitar
Vernon Reid – guitar
Charles Burnham – violin
David Barnes – harmonica
Leon Gruenbaum – piano, Hammond B-3 organ
Mark Peterson – bass
Aubrey Dale – drums

James Blood Ulmer is among the most distinctive and influential electric guitarists to emerge in the past four decades. Over time, Blood’s reputation has morphed from that of an avant–garde jazz visionary out of the Ornette Coleman school to elder statesman of the African–American musical vernacular encom¬passing jazz, blues, funk, and whatever lies beyond. This Jazz Standard engagement celebrates the tenth anniversary of his Grammy Award–nominated album Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions (2001, Hyena), which featured Ulmer’s deeply personal renditions of timeless blues standards by Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters. Blood’s special guest this week will be guitar hero Vernon Reid, founder of the pioneering Black rock group Living Colour.

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