James Blood Ulmer- ARE YOU GLAD TO BE IN AMERICA? Rough Trade 1980
Today is James Blood Ulmer's 70th birthday:
He was born in St.Matthew's, South Carolina in 1942.
This is another Ulmer l.p. from around the same period as my previous post.
That is- from early in his recording career as a leader.
This record features the same line-up as the Music Revelation Ensemble's first l.p,(1981) with the addition of a second drummer- G.Calvin Weston (from Ornette Coleman's Prime Time),
alto sax player Oliver Lake, Trumpeter Olu Dara and a rhythm guitarist-William Patterson (on track 4 only).
This record fits the "jazz-funk" designation better than does the Music Revelation Ensemble l.p, and at times (especially on track one) sounds very much like Prime Time, with Calvin Weston's funk rhythms having a lot to do with that. Otherwise, it's a typical Ulmer "pedal to the metal" straight-ahead free jazz-inflected improvising session. Solid stuff.
This is a strange recording, however. The sound is dry and lacks a certain definition.(Especially in the horns).
Some of the tracks fade out at odd moments or are cut off abruptly. One can only guess as to the reasons- too many solos? Solos too long? A desire to have more compositions represented? Disintegration in performance? Since Ulmer has production and mixing credits, one can only presume the result satisfied him. In any case- "Rough 16" is an apt catalogue number. Especially when compared with "Freelancing", from the same period, which is very similar, but- to my memory- more polished.
Side One:
1- Layout
2- Pressure
3- Interview
4- Jazz Is The Teacher (Funk Is The Preacher)
5- See-Through
Side Two:
6- Time Out/
7- T.V. Blues
8- Light Eyed/
9- Revelation March/
10- Are You Glad To Be In America?
James Blood Ulmer- Guitar, Vocals
David Murray- Tenor Saxophone
Oliver Lake- Alto saxophone
Olu Dara- Trumpet
Amin Ali- Bass
Ronald Shannon Jackson- Drums
G. Calvin Weston- Drums
William Patterson- Rhythm Guitar (track 4 only)
Recorded 17th January, 1980, R.C.A. Studios, NYC.
I have had to leave certain tracks linked together (/) as separating them would add an ugly pause to the music.
(1) or (1)
Howdy Folks,
ReplyDeleteThis great record was also released in 1981 on Artists House label{AH13}.
Totally different mix and superior sound without any of the trade roughities. But this RT lp is still much better than the horrible 1995 DIW CD which is yet another mix.
@non- Thanks for the info-
ReplyDeleteI have not heard the Artist's House version, but would like to-
The cover is nicer too! Love those
AH releases- nice inserts, solid pressings (the few that I own, anyway.)
Now that I blow it up- I see the cover can be by none other than Alfred Benge- (Robert Wyatt's wife, who does all his covers,too!)
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't her, I'm uncle to monkey.
GREAT POST//cheers for posting. :))) xx
ReplyDeleteAhem...AlfredA Benge.
ReplyDeleteRS link dead, MF link wants to link, but eventually I get a "cannot reach the server" message... maybe I will quit for the day. As always, thank you for such a fantastic one-of-a-kind blog!
ReplyDelete