James Blood Ulmer, Odyssey

A disciple of Ornette Coleman, James Blood Ulmer enjoyed a brief spell of critical acclaim for his fusion of the mysterious harmelodic theories of his mentor with Hendrix/Sly Stone-inspired psychedelic funk rock. However, that formula ran out of gas shortly after it ignited, on the amazing Are Your Glad to Be in America?. On Odyssey, Ulmer is backed up by a drummer and a violinist who plays through a wah-wah. That's it. The result is a very relaxed fusion of psychedelia and rural blues that Ulmer ran into the ground shortly thereafter with a series of live albums that repeated 75% of the songs on this studio album. These days Ulmer is punching his meal ticket on the Martin Scorcese's Blues Project. Mostly "Eh..."