NEW RELEASES : In Brief

* * James Blood Ulmer, “Blues Preacher,” DIW/Sony. This accessible thematic blues-rock album throws too much emphasis on Ulmer’s vocals and lacks the exhilarating epiphanies of which the ever-erratic guitarist is capable. Only a three-song sequence started off by an effective slow reworking of his old classic blues “Jazz Is the Teacher” and capped by the album’s lone foray into harmolodic funk, “Nobody but You,” really works. Aubrey Dayle’s leaden drumming strips the music of rhythmic momentum, and Ulmer is neither saying anything new nor building on old strengths here.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).