Charlie Hunter on NPR
Sunday Morning Edition featured a well-done interview with 8-string jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter. After the interviewer enthused about how Hunter covers bass, guitar and even organ parts with one instrument, Hunter talked not only about his gear but about his youthful hubris in attempting to master two instruments in one and how he thinks his multi-seat role has affected his music.
The interview is on the occasion of a new release, Right Now Move, which like most of his albums explores new instrumental ground. On this one he features 8-string and drums plus a horn section of tenor, trombone, and -- get this -- harmonica. Too much exposure to Toots Thielemans has taught me to hate jazz harmonica; either I'm going to have to give this CD a pass or maybe, just maybe, this will be the record which breaks me of my harmonicaphobia.
So far so good: the samples from Right Now Move used in the NPR piece and the MP3 of the cut "Oakland" available from charliehunter.com don't quite put me into harmonica-induced anaphylactic shock, although at times they do make me itch a bit. For now my favorite Charlie Hunter CD remains Natty Dread, a whole disc of jazz covers of Bob Marley tunes, not an easy thing to do while staying true to both styles but he pulls it off. I'm also fond of parts of Songs from the Analog Playground which let Charlie Hunter fans scoop the rest of the world by discovering Norah Jones several months before she blanketed the airwaves.
Speaking of downloads, charliehunter.com does something I've never seen before: it offers downloadable material organized into "discs" which you are encouraged to download and burn in their entirety; the site even provides printable cover art. Take that, RIAA!