Black Rock
JAMES BLOOD ULMER
Columbia

Believe it or not, back in the early '80s Columbia Records put considerable resources into its jazz department, and even signed the occasional avant-gardist like singer-guitarist James Blood Ulmer. An Ornette Coleman alum, Ulmer didn't merely skronk out; the aptly titled Black Rock contains several (for lack of a better word) rock tunes, albeit out-there rock tunes. The South Carolina native also brought considerable blues influence to bear. What results is a noisy but raggedly tuneful effort that showcases Ulmer's scratchy, jittery guitar work and deep blues moan. The music still sounds revolutionary a quarter-century later.

This article appears in May 17-23, 2006.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...