 The
true mark of an artist is his willingness
to creatively surge into new territory.
Throughout his career, Charlie Hunter has
avoided pitfalls of predictability by bringing
new ideas to the table and seeking out
new cohorts to collaborate with. The eight-string
guitarist-bandleader recorded his first
Blue Note album, Bing,
Bing, Bing! with a tenor saxophone-drum
trio, then added an alto saxophone to the
mix for his next two recordings, Ready,
Set...Shango! and the Bob Marley
cover project Natty
Dread. He threw a curveball last
year with Return of
the Candyman when he retired the
horn section and enlisted vibes player Stefon
Harris and percussionist John
Santos to join him and longtime
drummer Scott
Amendola in a new quartet called Pound
for Pound. For his latest outing, Hunter
once again pulls off a remarkable change
of pace by linking up with extraordinary
drummer Leon
parker for Duo, a superb
collection of ten tunes that run the jazzy
gamut from bluesy shuffles and deep-grooved
funk to hushed balladry and straight ahead
romanticism.
"I
was excited by the prospect of working
in a Duo setting," says Hunter, who
co-produced Duo with engineer Joe Ferla. "It's
scary and challenging at the same time.
Its like flying a helicopter. You have
to be on at every moment. Every limb is
doing something. There's no rest and no
time to recoup your energy. After one hour
you're totally expended." He pauses,
then notes how important it is to take
fresh directions.
"Life is too short to beat dead horses.
When a certain project has spiritually and
musically lived out its life, then it's time
to put it to bed. On the other hand, if the
music is still exciting and vital, I'll make
as many records as it takes for it to run
its course."
While
Hunter played a number of duo dates over
the years with his San Francisco Bay rhythm
mate Amendola, when the guitarist
moved to Brooklyn in late 1997, he set
out to find a simpatico drummer to jam
with. What better place to start than Leon
Parker, who kept the beat steady in
pianist Jacky Terrasson's trio as
well as released a couple excellent discs
for Colombia as a leader.
"I was a big fan of Leon's music," says
Hunter. "I thought he'd be the perfect
person to work with on a Duo album." Ferla,
who had done studio work with Parker before,
concurred.
But
it was a chance encounter in Brooklyn that
led to the recording sessions. Hunter recalls,
"I ran into Leon on a street one day.
We talked for quite a while about music in
general and then what I had in mind. He wasn't
very familiar with my albums, which was a
good thing because we developed a style of
playing together that wasn't built on preconceived
notions." The results? "Oh, man,
Leon is a genius. Hooking up with him made
my playing so much better. He's so honest
in his drumming and he brings 150 percent
to the music. His timing is perfect, and
he has great taste. He plays all the right
things. It was an inspiration to play with
him."
Another
stimulant that has spurred on Hunter's
music is his new stomping ground. "Just
meeting and then getting tt play with someone
like Leon is why I came here," he
says. "I'm being constantly inspired
by people, which sets off a chain of events
for more exploration. It's been one constant
chain reaction since I moved here."
Duo, the first disc Hunter recorded in New
York, affirms that he feels right at home
in the jazz mecca.
The
CD opens with the ebullient Mean
Streak, an older number written
during a time when Hunter was immersed
in Cuban music. Over the years he played
the tune in concert with his different
groups, but it took on a new life when
he and Parker rehearsed it. It's the only
tune of the pack with overdubs, with Parker
adding extra percussion and a snare drum
solo. That track is followed by the deeply
swinging "Belief", a Parker
tune from his album of the same title.
" I like Leon's writing,: says Hunter,
who adds, "This is one of my favorites."
"Do
That Then", written by
the Bay Area-based Scott Jensen,
opens on a quiet note then develops
into a pensive groove. Originally Hunter
and Parker were trying to push the
number into an uptempo funk realm,
but the results were unsatisfying.
"After attempting several takes, it just
didn't work," says Hunter, whose eight-string
wizardry frees him to play lead as well as
lay down the bass line. "We were going to
forget it and move on, but then we decided
to take it slow. We hit it on the first take."
Hunter
renders the jazz standard "You
Don't Know What Love Is" "super
straight,"
making romance by sticking close to the melody
line. He comments, "I love amp vibrato, which
gives this tune an old guitar sound." After
the ballad, the duo bursts out for Recess,
a romp that switches gears rhythmically into
the shuffle zone and features Hunter howling
in glee in the background. "That's inspired
by gospel music. I'd been listening to a
lot of music by the Soulstirrers, Mahalia
Jackson and Mavis Staples with Lucky Peterson
on organ. Leon and I were having so much
fun on the groove that I decided I didn't
need to solo. That's why the tune is so short." As
for those wails, Hunter jokes, "I just had
the feeling, what can I say?"
The
duo cools the tempo back down on the next
track, a hushed rendition of Brian Wilson's "Don't
Talk" from the Beach Boys' classic
album Pet Sounds. "We wanted to create
a mood. So as not to detract from the beauty
of the tune, we decided it didn't need
improvisation." This is followed by the
blues-drenched beboppish number
"The Last Time" (with Parker
on congas and caxixi, a Brazilian shaker),
the furtive "Dark Corner" (the
first tune the pair recorded in the three-day
sessions) and the cooking "The
Spin Seekers". The album closes
with a soca vibe on "Calypso for
Grandpa", a little ditty dedicated
to Hunter's 87-year-old grandfather who "can
still swing a mean baseball bat."
As
if Hunter hasn't taken enough adventures
on Duo, the guitarist has also been
involved in a couple of extracurricular
projects. He recorded an album with Galactic's Stanton
Moore (a trio date also featuring
saxophonist Skerik) and appears
on a couple tracks of R&B pop star D'Angelo's
album. Plus, he's preparing to
go into the studio with drummer Mike
Clark on his new project, which also
stars saxophonist Kenny Garrett.
What's
up next? No telling at the moment, but
whatever new path he takes, one thing is
certain: Hunter is going to be tuned in
creatively. "I know I'm never going
to sell a million records,"
he says. "But even if I could I know
that when music starts being dominated by
commerce, it's on the road to ruin. Good
music is made with good intentions. I owe
it to my audience which is very diverse and
very smart and expects me to throw curve
balls." |
