Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
In Memoriam: James Blood Ulmer, 1940–2026
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
Trombonist Roswell Rudd will release Keep Your Heart Right, his fourth release with Sunnyside Records, on June 24. The drumless quartet features vocalist Sunny Kim, pianist Lafayette Harris and bassist Bradley Jones.
Keep Your Heart Right revisits some of Rudd’s older compositions with tracks like “Bamako,” here given English lyrics, and the title track, composed with saxophonist Archie Shepp in 1965. The album features several other gospel-tinged, New York-inspired tracks like “Suh Blah Blah Buh Subi” and “All Nite Soul,” the latter dedicated to the late Reverend John Carcia Gensel of New York City’s St. Peter’s Church.
“This horn player is definitely a frustrated singer whose playing has in turn been influenced more by singers than by other instrumentalists, such as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Hibbler,” Rudd wrote in the album liner notes. “The songs came of necessity out of experiences, people, things that I read or heard, and the songs were piling up—always a part of my musicality.”
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
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