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\n\tJames Blood Ulmer, the innovative guitarist who fused avant-garde jazz with funk and the blues, died on June 3, according to a statement his family published via DownBeat<\/a><\/em>. A cause of death was not immediately available, but his family said Ulmer died \u201cpeacefully.\u201d He was 86.<\/p>\n \n\tKnown for a unique approach to improvisation and his warm, husky voice, Ulmer settled into a niche of his own in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Before releasing his own albums, Ulmer played electric guitar in free-jazz firebrand Ornette Coleman\u2019s Prime Time touring ensemble. Drawing on Coleman\u2019s \u201charmolodic\u201d music theory \u2014 essentially a group of musicians putting harmony, movement, and melody on the same plane for a transcendent sound collage \u2014 Ulmer freed the sound of guitar, playing in bursts of chords or self-divining melodies, in pop and soul contexts on his solo albums. Critics and musicians instantly recognized him as an innovator.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe feeling of loss, for me, and many in my circle, is profound,\u201d Living Colour guitarist, Vernon Reid, who produced Ulmer\u2019s Memphis Blood <\/em>album, wrote on social media<\/a>. \u201cBlood was one of one. He was made of the stuff that Blues is made of. Raw. Pure. Elemental.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTo the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique,\u201d his family statement said. \u201cTo his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller, and a source of strength. \u2026 His music was fearless, and so was his spirit.\u201d Details of a public celebration of life are forthcoming. \u201cPlease respect our privacy at this time and play Blood\u2019s music LOUD!\u201d the family wrote.<\/p>\n \n\tBorn Willie James Ulmer in St. Matthews, South Carolina, on Feb. 8, 1940, music was an integral part of his upbringing. Born to a Baptist preacher, Ulmer sang gospel with his father\u2019s vocal group, the Southern Sons, and started learning guitar at age four. He found fresh inspiration as a teen in the blues and Chuck Berry\u2019s music, which his parents considered \u201cthe devil\u2019s music,\u201d according to the family\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n