Let the Bells Ring On (Self-produced)
Charlie Hunter Trio
Released April 14, 2015
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2015
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_maYk-JDCXf9CnRuhwM_Z6mknk2prsZHhA
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6fS1EwcUNn8u5HXzixvw2O?si=z2onvMvgQwWkWtw4Lzjl1w
About:
California raised Charlie Hunter introduces a New Trio With Let the Bells Ring On, a program of evocatively greasy originals reuniting the 7-String guitar wizard with longtime collaborators trombone master Curtis Fowlkes and drum maestro Bobby Previte. This album is gritty, groovy and downright celebratory, and features 10 original tunes by Hunter designed for the trio’s singular, deep-pocket sound. Previte and Fowlkes, a charter member of the Lounge Lizards and the Jazz Passengers, were both essential participants on the Downtown scene in the 1970s and have worked together in countless settings over the years. Hunter and Previte have toured and recorded together in various all-star cooperative ensembles so you can hear the long formed relationship in their playing. Hunter says “…he’s always been one of my favorite drummers. He came up in the 1960s, and he has the beat. You have to have lived it to have that feel. Because of his composer’s mind, we can play the simplest groove and it becomes something really exciting and compositional.”
With Fowlkes singing on his horn to compliment the rhythm, this new trio’s soul-drenched groove and laid back jams are a force to be reckoned with. “The guitarist cedes nearly all the lead duties to the ‘bone player” reveals Something Else, “but the rhythm work bubbling just underneath is just as attention-grabbing and Fowlkes plays locked closely attuned to his two-man, three instrument rhythm section.”
Track Listing:
1. Anthem: USA (Charlie Hunter) 04:05
2. These People? (Charlie Hunter) 04:21
3. Pho-Kus On-Ho-Ho-Kus (Charlie Hunter) 05:39
4. Let the Bells Ring On (Charlie Hunter) 04:58
5. Hillbilly Heroine Chic (Charlie Hunter) 04:51
6. Welcome to Nutley (Charlie Hunter) 04:35
7. Fellini Farm Team (Charlie Hunter) 04:40
8. Ojai Housecat of Arms (Charlie Hunter) 03:33
9. Vernel (Charlie Hunter) 04:23
10. Spence (Charlie Hunter) 02:50
Personnel:
Charlie Hunter: 7 string guitar
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone
Bobby Previte: drums and cymbals
Recorded January 5 – 7, 2015, at Three Horses In A Wood, Claverack, NY
Recording and Mixing Engineer: Fabian Rucker
Mastered by Dave McNair
Cover Photography by Leo Gandelman
Review:
Charlie Hunter is the best kind of restless musician. Just about every new album brings another new ensemble and new possibilities. This time out, Hunter teams with drummer Bobby Previte (who he has recorded with extensively) and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes (who played on Hunter’s 2003 album Right Now Move). Both players have been stalwarts of the N.Y.C. jazz scene since the late ’70s but have played on any number of jazz, rock, and pop recordings. As players, they really know how to serve a song rather than put their imprint on it and Hunter takes full advantage with a really strong batch of tunes that play less like jazz and more like classic pop and soul tunes. They’ve got strong, catchy melodies, nice changes, and in-the-pocket grooves that can’t be beat. Any solos are not just economical; they stay so close to the melodies that they’re almost like lyrics. There’s no flashy playing or showing off to speak of, just a bunch of great tunes and three great musicians working to do them justice. Some tracks are so catchy, you’ll think they’ve rearranged an old song that you already know. While sounding completely contemporary, Let the Bells Ring On is a great album that harks back to a time when jazz was actually popular music (Ramsey Lewis, Young-Holt Unlimited, Ahmad Jamal) and the song came ahead of the players.
Sean Westergaard (AllMusic)
