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Hiram Bullock, Billy Cobham, Plays the Music Of Jimi Hendrix

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spanky

spanky

I did not know about this great music until I ran across it last night, Billy playing Jimi's stuff, I was blown away, downloaded the whole album right on the spot. Now you guy's know that I am a Hendrix freak, why didn't you all tell me this CD was around, because I did not know, and Manic Depression is off the hook, as well as Little Wing. This is just some fantastic work that I did not know, was ever created.http://www.hirambullock.com/[img]Hiram Bullock, Billy Cobham, Plays the Music Of Jimi Hendrix Hiram_10[/img]
Hiram Bullock: Charismatic jazz-rock guitarist

Died Monday, 25 July 2008

Hiram Bullock was a talented and charismatic guitarist, a rock'n'roller with a jazz head who bridged the world of sophisticated pop and the avant-garde New York jazz scene.

A super-session player, Bullock was mentored by the producer Phil Ramone, and his work can be heard on Steely Dan's Gaucho (1980), Paul Simon's One Trick Pony (1980), Sting's Nothing Like the Sun (1987), Billy Joel's The Stranger (1977) and Barbra Streisand's A Star Is Born (1976). He also played with the Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, James Brown and Al Green, among many others. He was a member of one of Miles Davis's last touring groups, and his guitar graced countless jazz albums. Hiram Bullock also put out over a dozen records under his own name.

Bullock was a consummate showman: his live performances were enhanced by his habit of wandering deep into the crowd whilst soloing. "Rock'n'roll guitarists might do that," said the promoter John Cummings, "but it wasn't common at jazz shows. You'd find a sedate jazz audience in Switzerland where the uptight burghers would be surprised by Hiram sitting on their daughters' laps whilst continuing to play. He invented himself as a jazz-rock guitarist and entertainer."

Did such live ostentation from the guitarist reflect the origins of his choice of instrument? "I played bass in my high school rock band (like a million other teenage boys)," Bullock said. "One day our guitarist, who was slightly older and looked like Eric Clapton, passed out while in the middle of the solo on 'Mississippi Queen' (he said later that he was 'tired'). Immediately, 10 girls jumped up onto the stage, stroking, consoling and otherwise 'reviving him'. At that precise moment I decided to switch to guitar."

Hiram Bullock was born in 1955 in Osaka, Japan to parents serving in the US military. When he was two the family returned to the United States, where they settled in Baltimore, Maryland. Hiram studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in the city, playing his first recital at the age of six. He also became a fluid saxophone player, and finally made the switch from bass to guitar at 16.

At the celebrated University of Miami music college, Bullock studied alongside Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and Will Lee, discovering musical soul-mates. He paid his way at university by playing nightclub gigs in Florida, and hooked up with the singer Phyllis Hyman. When she landed a recording deal and moved to New York, Bullock went with her.

In Manhattan he made an immediate impact. 'He was a phenomenon,' remembered Jamilla Samuels, a sound engineer at the Mix Studio. "All the players were talking about this new cat in town with this great guitar style. If you had a buzz like that amongst the musicians, it meant you were good. But I noticed that straightaway he fell in with the fast crowd."

Soon Bullock was playing with the master saxophonist David Sanborn and the Brecker Brothers band. He then formed the 24th Street Band with the drummer Steve Jordan, the keyboardist Clifford Carter and bassist Mark Egan, later replaced by Will Lee. Very popular in Japan, the 24th Street Band released two records there, with the keyboard player Paul Schaffer producing the second. Schaffer recruited Bullock, Jordan and Lee for his group the World's Most Dangerous Band, which played on the talk show Late Night With David Letterman from the programme's début in 1982, bringing to national attention the guitarist's habit of performing barefoot.

Other habits also revealed themselves. Bullock was known to suffer from an occasional "attendance problem" on the Letterman show, a consequence of the drug binges associated with the crowd he was hanging out with. He was no stranger to heroin and cocaine, but found his drug of choice when the crack epidemic swept the United States in the mid-1980s.

Most of the time, however, he kept it together. Tour managing him with Carla Bley's group and then with the Gil Evans Orchestra, John Cummings recalled his energetic extroversion: "He used to really tear it up playing with Carla, and even managed to persuade Van Morrison to perform Hiram's own arrangement of Moondance at Gil Evans' 75th birthday concert. He was a great player and a fantastic guy, and he was completely clean."

Yet the effects of Bullock's recreational pursuits soon became evident in his physical shape. From having once seemed the thinnest man on the planet, his body ballooned unflatteringly. His work did not suffer, and he continued to make great records, notably Late Night Talk (1996), an organ session featuring Lonnie Smith on the Hammond B-3, and Try Livin' It (2003), a funk-rock record that highlighted his songwriting skills.

In the autumn of 2007 Bullock was diagnosed with cancer. But his cast-iron constitution pulled him through, and he made a full recovery, setting off immediately on a lengthy tour with the Miles Evans Orchestra. There were no signs of post-operation fatigue; Bullock was playing at his peak. But the old problems remained. The attempt to maintain the post-performance high after the tour's end resulted in another crack binge, one that his depleted body was simply no longer able to endure.

Chris Salewicz

Hiram Law Bullock, guitarist and songwriter: born Osaka, Japan 11 September 1955; married (two stepsons); died New York 25 July 2008.

stephane



Hi Spanky,Ted wrote a short review a few month ago,i think,i bought it just after and was not disapointed at all!ijust think it's a bit short for a live cd ,but great music and great live recording sound! Peace,stef

spanky

spanky

I did not even know that he had died, I remember him from the David Letterman show, I remember David would jokingly say something about him not wearing shoes when he played guitar. And sure enough he would not have shoes or socks on. But he truly was a gifted and talented man, I don't think that the songs are short stef, as a matter of fact, they are much longer than when Jimi did them. But Billy doing Jimi, makes me love him even more than I already do.

http://www.hirambullock.com/

fuzit



Spanky:

Also get "Give It What U Got" from Hiram also. He has a few Funk-Rock smokers, a nice cut with Al Jarreu, and a version of Steely Dan's "Pretrzel Logic" that will blow your mind!

F.



Last edited by fuzit on Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:57 pm; edited 2 times in total

Ted E. Bear

Ted E. Bear

Here's that review Steph was talking about Spanky. Actually , I posted this in Dec. of last year, just after Christmas.

I don't think you were back on the board then ?

https://bcwtj.forumotion.com/we-re-talking-jazz-f1/hiram-bullock-cd-with-boomer-is-out-t343.htm?highlight=hiram+bullock+jimi+hendrix


Peace, TED

http://www.drumminfool.com

spanky

spanky

Ok thanks Ted I read your take. I think that the songs were lengthy enough. No one has ever played Little Wing that long, and Manic Depression was of the hook. 40 something minutes but the CD is still great, a big band playing Jimi, wow, and wow again. As for his voice I liked it, because it was a perfect fit, as far as I was concerned. Nice and hoarse sounding, a lot of hoarse sounding singers sound good. They give songs a different effect, like Janice Joplin, Rod Stewart, and other hoarse sounding singers.

fuzit



Most of these Hendrix "Tribute" albums don't turn out that well, IMO. The musicians performing Jimi's songs for some reason, can't tap into the spirit or spark that made Jimi's music timeless.

The Jimi tribute album I enjoyed the most was "Blue Haze: Songs Of Jimi Hendrix."

spanky

spanky

fuzit wrote:Spanky:

Also get "Give It What U Got" from Hiram also. He has a few Funk-Rock smokers, a nice cut with Al Jarreu, and a version of Steely Dan's "Pretrzel Logic" that will blow your mind!

F.
Thanks I will check it out.

kenny

kenny

fuzit wrote:Most of these Hendrix "Tribute" albums don't turn out that well, IMO. The musicians performing Jimi's songs for some reason, can't tap into the spirit or spark that made Jimi's music timeless.

The Jimi tribute album I enjoyed the most was "Blue Haze: Songs Of Jimi Hendrix."

It may be but they are at least trying. Some young people are not aware of the scope of Jimi's contribution. I was jamming with a band of mine and we slipped into a groove similar to 3rd stone from the sun and i mentioned the song and the 30 some yr old bassist wasn't familiar with it. i was taken aback. they know phish and the dead and all these jam bands but didn't take the time to explore Hendrix? I guess it helped to be there but he revolutionised the guitar by bringing some deep techniques with his creativity and intensity to a worldwide audience. I still see this one hendrix tribute guy around. he dresses like him and it's kinda funny but i'm glad he's out there doin it.


Well if ya can't beat em join em... I just started gigging with a garcia/dead clone band. it's actually been fun i can cut loose and put some things i've learned since those days into the grooves. these guys haven't learned a new lick on 30 years but hey people sing along to all the songs and have fun so no harm done. it's easy going swingin stuff for the most part i've stayed out of the deadclone jamband scene for a long time but this could be a few bucks in my pocket. have I sold out for rock and roll country boogie? Nah it's just another easy gig for me. I'll have to find some jazz is dead to listen to and get some ideas off boomer's time in the genepool.

http://www.balkanmusic.org

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