A dynamic performer, killer guitarist, soulful singer, accomplished songwriter and seasoned producer, Hiram Bullock presents the total package on Color Me. Bringing all of his varied musical influences and interests together on one recording, Bullock shows the full range of his abilities on his impressive debut for ESC Records.
“Most of the albums I have done in the past were mainly funky instrumental albums,” says Hiram. “But Color Me is a more versatile project. It has me singing, writing some nice songs and doing the whole studio production thing. It really shows other aspects of what I do besides just guitar playing. Even though I like playing guitar a lot, I don‘t see myself as a John Scofield or a Mike Stern...somebody who is going to go out there and just play, play, play. It‘s more like I‘m presenting a package -- a little bit of funk, a little bit of romance, and a lot of fun. It‘s just what I naturally end up doing.”
Color Me also documents the uncanny chemistry that Bullock has developed over three decades with bassist and longtime colleague Will Lee. Their musical relationship goes back to their first tour together with the Brecker Brothers Band in 1976 and their formation the following year of the 24th Street Band, a funky rock/r&b group that recorded three albums for Columbia Japan and had a phenomenal following in that country. Hiram and Will were later reunited in Paul Shafferís Worldís Most Dangerous Band, which worked as the house band for the “Late Nite with David Letterman” since its inception in 1981. Lee has made appearances on various other Bullock recordings over the years and is currently a member of Hiram‘s notorious power trio that also includes drummer Clint de Gannon. 
“I actually met Will in 1974 when I was attending the University of Miami,” Hiram recalls. “Will is three years older than I am and had left school by the time I got there but he would come back to visit once in a while. His father was the dean of the music school there and on his trips back to visit him Will would sit in on the gig I had at a club in Miami Beach called Eden Rock, backing up the singer Phyllis Hyman. To us music students at UM, Will was like the local boy who made good. He had gone to New York as an unknown and now he was on the road with Bette Midler, he was singing jingles and he was appearing on everyone‘s record as a session musician. Quite frankly, when I first came to New York a couple of years later, I thought Will was the coolest guy I had ever seen in my life. He was talented, he was intelligent, he was witty, he had style and flair, he was funny. So the idea of playing my own music with Will playing bass and singing was just like a dream to me. From my end of it, I was playing with a guy I had idolized.”

Will and Hiram rekindle their unique chemistry on the albumís ultra-funky opener, “Cafe Luna,” on the raunchy ZZ Top-ish boogie “Hurricane,” on Hiram‘s gentle acoustic guitar ballad “Your Face” and on a faithful, heavy metal rendering of Jimi Hendrix‘s anthemic “If Six Was Nine.” Says Hiram, “It‘s always just a lot of fun working with Will. We‘ve had that special rapport from the beginning. We‘ve always had a frenetic stage presence and people still dig it.”
Other special guests appearing on Color Me include trumpeter Randy Brecker, who lends a jazzy quality to Hiram‘s Steely Dan-ish “Peace,” alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who blows with gusto on the lyrical title track, vocalist Lalah Hathaway, who duets with Hiram on the r&b ballad “Ghetto Heaven,” and percussionists Don Alias and Jerry Gonzalez, who put an Afro-Cuban spin on an instrumental version of Todd Rundgrenís pop classic “I Saw The Light.”
One other unusual highlight is the posthumous appearance (via sampling) of the late pianist Kenny Kirkland on the funky instrumental “Window 2 K.” As Hiram explains, “That piano solo you hear on that song is actually Kenny‘s original solo off of Window Shopping, which on my first Atlantic release in 1986, From All Sides. George Whitty is really responsible for that. He sampled that solo of Kenny‘s and it had to be pitched down and slowed down because it‘s at a different tempo. And he managed to just to fit into the groove that it is now. The title is a double entendre. It was actually the year 2000 when we recorded it and it was also to Kenny.”
Hiram provides plenty of guitar pyrotechnics on that dynamic piece, showing touches of Jimi Hendrix-inspired wah-wah work along the way. He also shows some six-string sizzle on “Hurricane” as well as on Jimi‘s “If Six Was Nine.” But on his rich rendition of The Family Standís “Ghetto Heaven,” he makes like a smooth soul balladeer alongside Lalah Hathaway. “The original song was like a dance song, just totally different than how I did it,” says Bullock. “I had been doing that arrangement for years. I just sat down at the piano one day and it came out. And to get a great singer like Lalah on the track was a special treat. She‘s got the same soulful quality as her dad (the late, great Donny Hathaway).”
Elsewhere on Color Me, Hiram strikes a pop stance on his Eagles-esque original “Give Me One Reason” and also on “I‘m Your Fool Tonight.” His lilting “Peace” shows some of his most thoughtful, socially relevant lyric writing on the record while “Cafe Luna” is a raucous James Brown-inspired throwdown with his buddy Will and the crew in full party-time mode. On the other side of the dynamic coin is “Your Face,” his sensitive ballad that owes more to James Taylor than James Brown.

“There‘s a wide selection of things on this album,” says Hiram. “There are a couple of guitar-y things for the guitar freaks. And there are things like Your Face that the guitar and fusion crowd will probably hate. But, you know, it‘s such a pretty song that I had to have it on there. So I just do what I can do and hope people like it. As it turned out, the album is so eclectic that there will probably be something that somebody doesn‘t like but there will probably be something that everybody does like.”
This past summer, Bullock toured extensively with his own trio as well as with the Gil Evans Orchestra. During that time he also documented a rare live performance in Japan with his trio and special guest Edgar Winter, which will be scheduled for a future release. But for now, savor the full scope of Hiram‘s gifts on Color Me.

Born in Osaka, Japan on September 11, 1955, Hiram Bullock came to America at the age of 2. As a child he studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, playing his first recital at age 6. After learning the saxophone, he began to play the bass guitar and played his first professional gigs with a typical high school rock band. He switched to guitar when he was 16, admittedly to "meet more girls." He attended the University of Miami music school, where he studied with Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius. His regular nightclub job in Miami with the singer Phyllis Hyman eventually led him to New York in 1976.
Aside from playing with the Brecker Brothers Band and his own popular 24th Street Band in the mid 70s, Bullock also toured and recorded during his early years in New York with saxophonist David Sanborn. After meeting producer Phil Ramone he ended up playing on a string of gold and platinum pop albums by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, Burt Bacharach, James Taylor and Roberta Flack. Hiram is perhaps best known to television audiences as the barefoot guitar player on “Late Nite with David Letterman.” From the inception of the show until 1984, he was a regular member of the World‘s Most Dangerous Band, led by Paul Shaffer. Other television work includes being a member of the house band on “Saturday Night Live” and working as the musical director on David Sanborn‘s critically acclaimed “Night Music” show.
He was also seen acting the part of a musician in the movie “Under Siege,” starring Steven Segal. 

Through the 80s and 90s, Hiram worked with such a diverse list of musicians as Bob James, Spyro Gyra, Sting, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Jaco Pastorius, Carla Bley, Eric Clapton, James Brown, Al Green and Miles Davis. His recordings as a leader include First Class Vagabond (1985), From All Sides (1986), Give It What You Got (1987), Way Kool (1992), World of Collision (1994), Live at Manny's Car Wash (1996), Late Night Talk (1996), Carrasco (1997) and Guitar Man (1999).

October 2001

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

Nothing Like The Sun - Sting
The Stranger - Billy Joel
Celebrate Me Home - Kenny Loggins
Touchdown - Bob James
Naughty - Chaka Khan
Gaucho - Steely Dan
Close Up - David Sanborn
Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Taylor
A Star Is Born - Barbara Streisand
From All Sides - Hiram Bullock
Give It What You Got - Hiram Bullock
Way Cool - Hiram Bullock
World Of Collision - Hiram Bullock
Manny's Car Wash - Hiram Bullock
Late Nite Talk - Hiram Bullock
Carrasco - Hiram Bullock
Guitar Man - Hiram Bullock