Charlie Hunter

Charlie Hunter. The Bay Area-raised musician is a bit of a virtuoso. Playing a Novax 8-string guitar, he has been gaining notoriety on the jazz scene as well as building himself a fan-base of funk and groove aficionados. Acting as both the guitar and bass player, it is easy to see why his groups are viewed as being some of the tightest, original groups around. He is able to cover both parts with his unique guitar, which boasts three bass strings and five guitar strings. With this he is able to not only able to comp chords with the guitar while playing the bass, but is also able to spew off headers and solo while keeping the bass funky and alive. Through the years, Charlie Hunter has toured with various line-ups from solo to quartets. On this tour he had with him Steve Chopek on drums, Chris Lovejoy on percussion and John Ellis on tenor saxophone (no, not Dave Ellis).
Arriving at Yoshi's at Jack London Square always gets me excited. It is a unique jazz club for it is also a fine Japanese restaurant. The place has a great atmosphere and once into the jazz club, one is taken aback by the class and style the place holds. No seat is a bad one, and it is obvious that they have put much thought into the room's design.
Around 10 o'clock the show started. The four musicians walked out and start the set playing with intensity and precision. After working their way into and through a bluesy ballad, they poured through some older, funky material off Charlie's first couple albums, all the while taking each song to that next level. On one song, while playing the bass line, Hunter played the lead on guitar, comped chords between the lead and sang a third harmony to his lead and the sax player's. Whew. After this set of songs the band took a brief break, and with Yoshi's in great spirit, he returned to a roaring room to begin the encore. This song put the band to the test, with Charlie calling the arrangement the whole way, including solos in 3/8 time, and even pulling a friend, Rick Alexander, from the audience to blow some alto over this closure. It was a hot ending for sure and definitely left the West Coast crowd wanting more and also sad that his move to New York has made seeing this marvel a much rarer occurrence.
After the show, my friend and I were looking at the gear on stage when we met Mur, Charlie's soundman. He said if we wanted to check out the upcoming show in Tahoe he would hook us up. Three days later, after a very long New Year's (including seeing the sunrise from the "Lounge") we made it to Tahoe City. They were playing at a place called Sierra Vista - and no, this is not Humpty's / Elevation; that place is closed…again. This joint is on the water, and is pretty cool.
This time around, Charlie had Robert Walter's 20th Congress open for them. I don't know if it was due to the fact that they were playing with Charlie or what, but they were on! Funky as ever, tight with the hits, but raw on the groove. It was how it should be. After Robert, Charlie came out and started the set the same but went through many different songs as the show went on. It was just as funky as before, though this time the show was longer. There was a set break and an encore ending the night at around one-thirty.
After narrowly escaping the Chico vortex and my dying need for sleep, I rallied to Sacramento for one more show. Arriving at Harlow's, I went inside to catch Robert Walter tearing the heart out of his Rhodes and organ. "Damn, he's good," is all I could think. After finding my friend and running into a few others, we went to my truck between sets, only to have the Five-0 roll on us out of 'suspicion.' Nothing happened, but the warrant checks took so long I missed the start of Charlie. That pissed me off, until I was once again embraced by the tones and rhythms coming from the stage. The show was another knockout, leaving the crowd wasted in oohs and aahs as they jammed out the evening with heavy improvisation. They even let Robert Walter's sax player and his percussion player come up and share the stage until city ordinance said 'no more.'
Charlie Hunter is one of the best musicians in the world today. Besides that, he is original and hip. His innovations will be lessons for future musicians and his legacy will be told in jazz history books in years to come. He is a modern-day genius and when he comes around again, don't miss him!

- Colby Barr

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