| Hiram Bullock | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Hiram Law Bullock |
| Born | September 11, 1955 |
| Origin | Osaka, Japan |
| Died | July 25, 2008 (aged 52) |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Associated acts | Jaco Pastorius, David Sanborn, Will Lee |
| Website | Official site |
| Notable instruments | |
| Guitar | |
Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz funk and jazz fusion guitarist.
He was born in Osaka, Japan to African American parents serving in the U.S. Military. At the age of two he returned to Baltimore, Maryland with his parents, and quickly showed a prodigious musical talent. He studied piano at the city's Peabody Conservatory of Music, giving his first public performance aged just six. After spells playing the saxophone and bass, he took up the electric guitar at 16.[1]
Bullock studied at the University of Miami music college, meeting guitarist Pat Metheny, and bass-players Jaco Pastorius and Will Lee. He paid his way at university by playing nightclub gigs in Florida, before moving to New York. He became best-known for his playing with Pastorius, on Late Night with David Letterman and work with David Sanborn and Bob James. 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) (solo on the cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing") and Billy Joel's The Stranger (1977). He also did work for Harry Belafonte, Marcus Miller, Carla Bley, Miles Davis, Ruben Rada (on the album Montevideo) and Gil Evans.
He recorded as a member of the 24th Street Band, who released 3 albums: 24th Street Band (1979), Share Your Dreams (1980) and Bokutachi (1981).
In 1982, he released his debut album, called First Class Vagabond, which was exclusively distributed for the Japanese music market by the JVC-Victor Company, and later reissued on CD.
In 1986, Bullock released his first album as a leader for Atlantic Records called From All Sides, followed by the albums Give It What You Got in 1987, and Way Kool in 1990. Shortly after the Atlantic albums, he recorded a few tracks from those specific sessions for a live event at the NYC-located Indigo Blues Venue, in order to eventually release it on laserdisc and CD for the commercial market in Japan. His live band from the Indigo Blues-sessions included: Dave Delhomme (keyboards), Steve Logan (bass guitar), and Steven Wolf (drums). The setlist of the Indigo Blues-performance:
On May 27, 2004, he teamed up with legendary drummer Billy Cobham for a performance of the works of Jimi Hendrix at the University of Cologne in Germany. A CD of this performance was released posthumously in 2008.
He had his own signature model guitar made by Cort, the HBS-II, which has a humbucker/single coil/humbucker pick-up arrangement and a maple neck. It also has Sperzel tuners and only comes in a tobacco burst finish.
In 2007, Bullock was diagnosed with throat cancer, but responded well to treatment and began touring again. However, longer-term problems related to substance abuse culminated in his death on July 25, 2008.[2] He was honored by David Letterman on his show.