James Blood Ulmer, the innovative guitarist who fused avant-garde jazz with funk and the blues, died on June 3, his family announced via DownBeat. He was 86 and passed away peacefully.
Ulmer was a guitarist who refused convention. Working directly with free-jazz icon Ornette Coleman in Prime Time, he absorbed Coleman's harmolodic theory—putting harmony, movement, and melody on equal footing—and applied it to his own solo albums, creating something that sounded unlike anything heard before.
Born Willie James Ulmer in South Carolina in 1940, the son of a Baptist preacher, he started learning guitar at age four. Gospel roots, blues rebellion, and Chuck Berry swagger all fused into his musical approach.
Living Colour's Vernon Reid, who produced Ulmer's Memphis Blood album, took to social media to express the loss. "Blood was one of one," Reid wrote. "He was made of the stuff that Blues is made of. Raw. Pure. Elemental."
His family's statement captured who he was: "His music was fearless, and so was his spirit." They added: "To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique."
The details of a public celebration of life are forthcoming. Until then, the family has one simple request: play Blood's music LOUD.
