Blue
Note Records approached Charlie Hunter to cover
an entire classic album of the past by a legendary
artist as part of their new Cover Series
project. The choice on what album to be covered
was left up to Charlie and his Quartet to decide.
Having a broad range of musical influences did
not make the decision easy for Charlie. After
pondering the idea of doing Curtis Mayfield's
"Superfly" and the Beach Boys'
"Smiley Smile", he settled on Bob
Marley's Natty Dread.
"For
starters, Bob Marley is one of the greatest songwriters
of all time," Hunter explains. "His
music stands on its own like a Beatles song. You
strum one of his tunes on an acoustic guitar and
people instantly recognize it. He ranks up there
as a song composer with Stevie Wonder and
Elvis Costello. Plus, the numbers on Natty
Dread have such strong melodies and harmonies.
The clincher was that each tune presented itself
in such a way that allowed the band the freedom
to do something original with it."
Band members Scott
Amendola, Calder
Spanier, Kenny
Brooks and Hunter met and all contributed
ideas into turning the reggae tunes into jazz
arrangements. After breaking out a tune or two
from Natty Dread on the road, they settled
into a run of weekly shows at their familiar confine,
the Elbo Room in the San Francisco SOMA district
where on a couple of occassions, the whole album
was performed in its entirety, in sequence, to
the delight and amazement of the fans.
After these well-received shows, they spent three
days in the studio with producer Lee Townsend
(Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Will
Bernard) for the recording of the album.
"It was a challenge to take Bob Marley's
music and do justice to it. But we're pleased
with what we came up with," Hunter says.
We recorded most of the tunes on first or second
takes so it feels like a live album. We had fun
doing the project. It all came together serendipitously.
The round pegs fit in the round holes and the
square ones fit in the square holes. It was really
that easy."
Lively Up
Yourself - "It seemed obvious right
from the start that this tune had to be done as
a shuffle. We didn't even discuss the arrangement
as a group. We just played it and it fell right
into place."
No
Woman, No Cry - "I got some ideas by
messing around with 'The Tennessee Waltz'. I was
also working with concepts on stating melodies
I picked up from listening to Ry Cooder and Roebuck
'Pops' Staples. It's not easy to hear, but there's
also a Bill Frisell feel. What's really interesting
is the accordian sound Calder and Kenny create
with the intervals they're playing on their altos.
We come off sounding like Flaco Jimenez jamming
with Ry."
Them
Belly Full - "This builds in intensity
with Latin-inflected rhythms. That was an easy
one."
Rebel
Music - "That was the hardest arrangement
to figure out. We finally decided to do it slow
and straight. I used my guitar to get that organ
sound by running it through a Leslie speaker.
I wanted to make the tune sound like John Patton
was playing it."
So
Jah Seh - Hunter gives the credit to Scott
Amendola for coming up with the idea to play this
tune as an Afro-pop sensibility. Calder worked
on the initial arrangement which was modified
by the band during their live dates.
Natty
Dread - This piece was arranged with a Carribean
flare to it.
Bend
Down Low - Charlie calls their arrangement
of "Bend Down Low" a gospel speed-metal
version. He also notes that the horns play the
heads of five other Marley tunes. "You have
to listen carefully for those cameos. Theyre pretty
well disguised. It's like Calder and Kenny are
doing backward masking vocals."
Talkin'
Blues - "It's pretty basic. It's
the Marley tune with the groove inspired by the
[Eddie] Harris number ['Mean Greens']."
Revolution
- Kenny Brooks arranged the closer as a slow melodic
number.
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