James Blood Ulmer Day

James “Blood” Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His distinctive guitar sound has been described as “jagged” and “stinging”. Ulmer’s singing has been called “raggedly soulful”.

Willie James Ulmer^[2] was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina. He began his career playing with various soul jazz ensembles, first in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1959–1964, and then in the Columbus, Ohioregion, from 1964–1967. He first recorded with organist Hank Marr in 1964 (released 1967). After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali and Larry Young.