In 1971, Mr. Ulmer moved to New York, ostensibly to meet Miles Davis. Instead, he met Mr. Coleman. After a nightlong jam session, Mr. Ulmer moved into Mr. Coleman’s loft and became the first full-time guitarist in his band, Prime Time.
He also played with the drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and on two albums with the saxophonist Arthur Blythe.
In 1980, Mr. Ulmer formed the Music Revelation Ensemble, a loosely united group that at various times included artists like the bassist Amin Ali and the saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and John Zorn. The group recorded seven albums over the next 20 years, three of which were released only in Japan.
Mr. Ulmer’s first marriage, to Sara Penn, ended in divorce in 1984. He married Eva Mikusch in 2017, after a long relationship.
She survives him, along with two daughters, Gia Rae Winsryg-Ulmer and Nisa Brunner; three sons, Gregory Ulmer, Michael Ulmer and Damu Musawwir; a brother, Dennie Leroy Ulmer; two sisters, the Rev. Shirley Ann Abraham and Rosetta Pope; 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Donna Marie Ulmer, died in 2024.
In the early 2000s, Mr. Ulmer began to explore his Southern roots on albums like “Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions” (2001), collaborating with the rock guitarist Vernon Reid, the founder of the band Living Colour. Mr. Ulmer received his only Grammy nomination for that album, in the best traditional blues category. He never achieved the fame of his mentor Mr. Coleman, let alone that of Mr. Hendrix. But he said he was fine with that.
“Music is not for judging,” he told Wax Poetics. “You listen to it and take what you can get from it. Put it in your pocket and keep moving.”
