Music
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Getting Off
Attorney Tyler Flood says he wins 80 percent of his clients' DWI trials, even if they were 100 percent drunk as a skunk.
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City of Coffee
Is Houston about to become America's coffee capital?
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Houston's Choice for Mayor
Black Guy, Rich White Guy, Lesbian or Hispanic Republican
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Looking for a Bull Market
Killen's Steakhouse in suburban Pearland is probably best during boom times.
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Burgers and Hash
Lola, a modern diner in the Heights is dishing up some top-notch Texas short-order cooking.
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BBQ Buffet
Korea Garden Grille offers a stellar selection of barbecue items in unlimited quantities — and new and interesting ways to eat them.
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Getting Off
Attorney Tyler Flood says he wins 80 percent of his clients' DWI trials, even if they were 100 percent drunk as a skunk.
-
Looking for a Bull Market
Killen's Steakhouse in suburban Pearland is probably best during boom times.
-
Burgers and Hash
Lola, a modern diner in the Heights is dishing up some top-notch Texas short-order cooking.
-
Down the Rabbit Hole
Lose yourself discovering Michael Bise's work at Moody Gallery.
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National Features >
City PagesYou don't need to read Sarah Palin's book to hear the ravings of a mad woman. By Matt SnydersMiami New TimesThe rise and fall of a chubby sex-cult leader. By Natalie O'NeillRiverfront TimesTom was a hot-tempered cross-dresser with a garage full of guns--and then he became Rachel. By Nicholas Phillips
James "Blood" Ulmer
Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions
Published on June 06, 2007 at 8:58am
Guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer is a strange duck. Though he started out in jazz organ combos, Ulmer made his rep with avant-jazz icon Ornette Coleman in the latter's ebullient "harmolodic" period. Then in the mid-1980s, Ulmer began upping the ubiquitous blues elements of his playing and singing, until he mastered the techniques of scorching electric blues. His last three albums spotlighted the various playing styles of specific regions (Memphis, Chicago and acoustic Delta), but Bad Blood in the City finds Ulmer expanding his palette and tipping his hat to the hard-hit city of New Orleans. There's some soulfully yearning R&B balladry here, à la Tony Joe White, on songs like "Backwater Blues" and "Katrina." And with its obvious gospel feel, the rousing "Let's Talk About Jesus" could be a Stax-era Staples Singers chestnut. But fires rage on this album as well, as on the scathing yet funky "Survivors of the Hurricane," the endless boogie of "Sad Days, Lonely Nights" and the tantalizing John Lee Hooker-style slow-burner "This Land Is Nobody's Land," with African percussion echoing deep in the background. Only five of the 11 tunes on the album are originals, but when Ulmer borrows material, he makes it his own. He sings as if 20 miles of bad road lie ahead, and Vernon Reid's raw production gives this new disc an eerie, moonless-after-midnight ambiance.
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