Hiram Bullock

Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz funk and jazz fusion guitarist.

Biography

Bullock 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 showed musical talent. He studied piano at the city's Peabody Conservatory of Music, giving his first public performance at the age of six. After playing saxophone and bass guitar, he took up the electric guitar at age sixteen.

Bullock attended McDonogh School for Boys in Reisterstown, Maryland. He was captain of the band in middle school. He studied at the University of Miami, where he met guitarists Pat Metheny and Steve Morse, and bass-players Jaco Pastorius and Will Lee. He paid for tuition by performing at nightclubs in Florida before moving to New York. He became best known for playing with Lee on Late Night with David Letterman and working 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) and Billy Joel's The Stranger (1977). He also worked with Harry Belafonte, Marcus Miller, Carla Bley, Miles Davis, Ruben Rada, and Gil Evans.

He recorded as a member of the 24th Street Band, which released three albums: 24th Street Band(1979), Share Your Dreams (1980) and Bokutachi (1981). In 1982, he released his debut album, First Class Vagabond, which was exclusively distributed for the Japanese market by the JVC-Victor Company and later reissued on CD. Also in 1982, he was an original member of The World's Most Dangerous Band, the house band on the NBC-TV program Late Night with David Letterman. He stayed with Letterman's show for about two years. 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 sessions for a live event at the Indigo Blues Venue, in order to release it in Japan. His live band from the Indigo Blues sessions included Dave Delhomme (keyboards), Steve Logan (bass guitar), and Steven Wolf (drums).

On May 27, 2004, he teamed up with drummer Billy Cobham for a performance of the works of Jimi Hendrix at the University of Cologne in Germany. An album of this performance was released posthumously in 2008.

He had his own signature model guitars made by Cort, the HBS & HBS-II.

Bullock died of cancer in New York City at the age of 52.

Discography

• 1982: First Class Vagabond (JVC Victor)
• 1986: From All Sides (Atlantic)
• 1987: Give It What U Got (Atlantic)
• 1992: Way Kool (Atlantic)
• 1994: World of Collision (Big World)
• 1996: Manny's Car Wash (Big World)
• 1997: Carrasco (Fantasy)
• 1997: Late Night Talk (Venus)
• 2000: Guitar Man (JVC Victor)
• 2001: Color Me (Via)
• 2002: Best of Hiram Bullock (WEA)
• 2003: Try Livin' It (EFA)
• 2004: Jam Jam (3D)
• 2005: Too Funky 2 Ignore (BHM)
• 2008: Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix (BHM)

As sideman

With Carla Bley

• 1984 Heavy Heart
• 1985 Night-Glo
• 1987 Sextet

With Gil Evans

• 1984 Live at Sweet Basil
• 1984 Live at Sweet Basil Vol. 2
• 1986 Farewell
• 1987 Bud and Bird
• 2000 Honey Man
• 2000 Lunar Eclypse
• 2001 75th Birthday Concert

With Roberta Flack

• 1972 Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
• 1979 Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
• 1978 Roberta Flack

With Bob James

• 1977 BJ 4
• 1978 Touchdown
• 1979 Lucky Seven
• 1980 H
• 1981 All Around the Town
• 1996 Joined at the Hip
• 2003 Hi-Fi

With Marcus Miller

• 1993 The Sun Don't Lie
• 1994 Tales
• 1998 Live & More
• 2001 M

With Monkey Business

• 2001 Save the Robots
• 2003 Resistance Is Futile
• 2005 Kiss Me on My Ego

With Idris Muhammad

• 1977 Turn This Mutha Out
• 1978 Boogie to the Top
• 1979 Fox Huntin
• 1993 My Turn
• 2006 Could Heaven Ever Be Like This

With Jaco Pastorius

• 1986 PDB
• 1990 Live in New York City Vol. 1: Punk Jazz
• 1991 Live in New York City Vol. 2: Trio
• 1991 Live in New York City Vol. 3: Promise Land
• 1992 Live in New York City Vol. 4: Trio 2
• 1999 Live in New York City Vol. 6: Punk Jazz 2
• 1999 Live in New York City Vol. 7: History
• 2001 Live in New York City
• 2006 The Word Is Out

With Rubén Rada

• Montevideo (Big World, 1996)
• Montevideo Dos (Big World, 1999)

With David Sanborn

• 1976 Sanborn
• 1977 Promise Me the Moon
• 1978 Heart to Heart
• 1979 Hideaway
• 1980 Voyeur
• 1982 Backstreet
• 1984 Straight to the Heart
• 1987 A Change of Heart
• 1988 Close-Up
• 1988 Love Songs
• 1992 Upfront

With Spyro Gyra

• 1980 Carnaval
• 1980 Catching the Sun
• 1982 Incognito
• 1983 City Kids

With Leni Stern

• 1985 Clairvoyant
• 1987 The Next Day

With Mike Stern

• 1986 Upside Downside
• 1985 Neesh

With Steve Swallow

• Carla (Xtra Watt, 1987)
• Swallow (Xtra Watt, 1991)

With others

• 1977 Celebrate Me Home, Kenny Loggins
• 1977 Don't Stop the Music, Brecker Brothers
• 1977 Futures, Burt Bacharach
• 1977 Something You Got, Art Farmer
• 1977 The Stranger, Billy Joel
• 1978 Lucumi Macumba Voodoo, Eddie Palmieri
• 1978 I Cry I Smile, Narada Michael Walden
• 1979 Awakening, Narada Michael Walden
• 1980 Detente, Brecker Brothers
• 1980 Cajun Sunrise, Hank Crawford
• 1980 Gaucho, Steely Dan
• 1980 Me Myself I, Joan Armatrading
• 1980 One Trick Pony, Paul Simon
• 1980 Take a Bite, Marlena Shaw
• 1980 The Blues Brothers, The Blues Brothers
• 1980 Naughty, Chaka Khan
• 1981 What Cha' Gonna Do for Me, Chaka Khan
• 1981 Crazy for You, Earl Klugh
• 1982 Anyone Can See, Irene Cara
• 1982 Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan
• 1983 Hanalei Bay, Lew Soloff
• 1983 Faster Than the Speed of Night, Bonnie Tyler
• 1984 Closer to the Source, Dizzy Gillespie
• 1984 Live at Carnegie Hall & Montreaux Switzerland, Teresa Brewer
• 1984 Transfer Station Blue, Michael Shrieve
• 1985 Skin Dive, Michael Franks
• 1985 Hearts and Numbers, Don Grolnick
• 1985 The Alternative Man, Bill Evans
• 1986 L Is for Lover, Al Jarreau
• 1986 Magnetic, Steps Ahead
• 1987 Blue Matter, John Scofield
• 1987 The Camera Never Lies, Michael Franks
• 1987 At Home, Janis Siegel
• 1987 Nothing Like the Sun, Sting
• 1990 Paint Another Picture, Darlene Love
• 1990 Signals, Wayne Krantz
• 1991 Like Never Before, Taj Mahal
• 1991 So Intense, Lisa Fischer
• 1991 Leap of Faith, Kenny Loggins
• 1992 Just Advance, Kenwood Dennard
• 1993 Killer Bees, Airto Moreira
• 1993 Oh!, Will Lee
• 1994 Overdrive, Adam Holzman
• 1998 Love Makes the Changes, Freddy Cole
• 1998 Minh, Chris Minh Doky
• 1998 Nicole Renee, Nicole Renee
• 1999 Blue Light Boogie, Taj Mahal
• 2000 Karen Mantler's Pet Project, Karen Mantler
• 2000 Rainbow Mountain, Lew Soloff
• 2001 Hanging in the City, Randy Brecker
• 2002 Bar Talk, Jeff "Tain" Watts
• 2003 Big Fun, Bill Evans
• 2003 White Lines, Soozie Tyrell
• 2004 Jazzin' the Blues, Edgar Winter
• 2005 American Made World Played, Les Paul
• 2005 Archives Vol. 4, Steve Vai
• 2006 Soul Bop Band Live, Randy Brecker/Bill Evans
• 2008 The Works, Jonatha Brooke