James Blood Ulmer

Guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer got his start with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, a jazzman most noted for his pioneering efforts with free jazz, and later for harmolodics, an arcane (if influential) theory of collective improvisation. All of which makes Coleman -- and, by extension, Ulmer -- seem pointy-headed and off-putting.

But Ulmer, like Coleman, has his roots in the blues, and it's that gut-level urtext that ultimately shapes the guitarist's sound and sensibility. No matter how "outside" his improvisations may get, they're generally blessed with an emotional grounding that makes them approachable, if not embraceable.

Sounding like an especially trippy acid-rock outing, Tales of Captain Black (which credits Ulmer as "James Blood" and features Coleman) is thrilling and intimidating, pushing the envelope in terms of harmony, melody, and rhythm. Avant-jazz fans should be pleased.

But with Are You Glad to Be in America?, Ulmer moves to a more blues-oriented sound, working off obviously backbeat-grounded grooves as well as singing on a few numbers. The disparity between selections such as the R&B-oriented title tune and the free-blowing "Revelation March," however, may be a bit much for listeners whose blues experience doesn't extend beyond B.B. King and Eric Clapton.

Moving up to the majors, Ulmer consolidates his focus and tones down the experimental elements of his sound. Free Lancing even brings in backup singers for one track. Black Rock (a pun that refers both to the sound he evokes and the building that was then Columbia Records' New York headquarters) attempts to broaden Ulmer's appeal by taking a more varied approach instrumentally, but it was the stripped-down and rootsy sound of Odyssey, featuring a bassless trio with violinist Charles Burnham, that most successfully bridged the gap between his blues roots and jazz ambition. A pity the band did not find the audience it deserved.

Part Time and Live at the Caravan of Dreams, recorded live and emphasizing the more experimental end of his music, are fine companions to Coleman's electric albums from that era. But Ulmer, ever eager to broaden his audience, moved back toward mainstream fare with America: Do You Remember the Love?, a halfhearted attempt at crossover acceptability recorded under the aegis of fusion auteur Bill Laswell. This was followed by several albums in which Ulmer approached the blues through the intellectual filter of Coleman's theories, which was a reasonable strategy aesthetically, but not especially satisfying as music. By this point, Ulmer's desire to be accessible and intellectually impressive begins to verge on the schizophrenic, to such a degree that Music Speaks Louder Than Words finds him vacillating between emotionally charged covers of Ornette Coleman tunes and half-assed attempts at pop such as "Rap Man" (which, yes, boasts some very lame rapping).

Laswell reenters the picture with Blue Blood, which ups the pop ante by backing Ulmer with actual R&B musicians, among them P-Funk alum Bernie Wor-rell and Jerome "Bigfoot" Bailey. But it's Memphis Blood that finally gets the formula right. Produced by ex–Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and built around blues standards from the '50s ("Spoonful," "Little Red Rooster," "Back Door Man"), it's sufficiently grounded in conventionality that even Ulmer's most outside riffing connects with the listener. No Escape From the Blues, made with the same band, is even better. Had Howlin' Wolf followed Dave Brubeck's lead and made Blues Goes to College, it probably would have sounded like this. (J.D. CONSIDINE)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide