| Tales of Captain Black | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | James Blood Ulmer |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1979 |
| Recorded: | December 5, 1978 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 33:32 |
| Label: | Artists House |
| Producer: | John Snyder & Ornette Coleman |
| Chronology: | James Blood Ulmer |
| Prev Title: | Revealing |
| Prev Year: | 1977 |
| Next Title: | Are You Glad to Be in America? |
| Next Year: | 1980 |
Tales of Captain Black is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer (credited simply as "James Blood" on the cover), featuring Ornette Coleman, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Denardo Coleman, recorded in 1978 and originally released on the Artists House label.[1] It was coproduced by Ornette.[2] The album was remastered and rereleased on CD with a new mix by Joe Ferla approved and co-produced by Ulmer on the Japanese DIW label in 1996.
The Globe and Mail wrote that "the guitarist has taken Hendrix several steps further; he creates textures instead of solos in which only the merest of melodic fragments survive."[3]
The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek stated: "Safe to say, there are no weak tracks on Tales From Captain Black, and even the redo of 'Revealing' from Ulmer's previous album show an unbridled excitement and an extrapolation of that tune's rhythmic and harmonic elements into something more sinister, more driven, more angular, more mercurial. Captain Black marks the real beginning of Ulmer's career as a leader. It has been a bumpy, restless ride since that time with many creative and professional ups and downs, but it hardly matters. Records like this one make him the most visionary and brilliant electric guitarist in a generation."[4] Trouser Press wrote: "Ulmer's debut finds him heavily indebted to the saxophonist. Tales of Captain Black offers Ulmer's trademark knotted, choked phrasing as a rough-hewn foil to Coleman's pure, free melodocism, but he hasn't fully discovered his own voice yet."[5]
All compositions by James Blood Ulmer
Recorded at R.P.M. Sound Studios, Inc., New York City, December 5, 1978.