Customer Reviews

Duo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Charlie Hunter is an incredible jazz guitar player. His style is not for every jazz fan however. On certain tracks like "Recess", if you close your eyes, you'd be convinced that you are listening to a Hammond B3 organ. The only instruments used on this album are drums and guitar. Hunter uses an 8 string guitar (3 bass strings and 5 regular strings). It is with this guitar (and a number of guitar pedals) that he can trick our ears into hearing an organ. "Recess" alone, makes this recording worthwhile. I wrote "acquired" because Hunter is an original. He is not a standard jazz guitarist (just check out an older recording of Hunter on "Bing Bing Bing" where he does a jazz rendition of Nivana's "Come As You Are"). If you're looking for something original that grew from classic jazz roots, this may be for you. Just put it on the CD player, sit back and close your eyes.

I'm listening to this disc for the first time as I type this review. Charlie Hunter is nothing short of amazing. This is a great release, although I don't think he'll ever top the Les Claypool produced first release by the Charlie Hunter Trio.

Even my friends who don't like jazz like Hunter.

I have probably over 3000 CDs, and a ridiculous number of downloaded tracks. This is one of the best albums I have ever purchased. It is definitely an acquired taste, but both of these artists are incredible in their own right. Try out a few tracks first, but I believe it to be one of the best....

Guitarist Hunter and drummer/percussionist Parker recorded this CD live in the studio with the exception of some overdubbed percussion parts on one cut. I mention this because when you put this CD on and start listening, you are going to think there is a trio playing, and you are going to wonder how two men could produce three parts. The secret is the eight-string guitar that Hunter wields, which contains three bass strings and five standard guitar strings. This instrument allows him to accompany himself on bass while playing jazz guitar lines at the same time. He also at times employs electronic manipulation that makes the guitar sound like an organ.

Although Parker typically prefers a straightforward, even rudimentary drumkit, his imagination and dexterity give his drumming a colorful quality that makes him a most enjoyable drummer to hear at work--or perhaps I should write, "at play," because Parker always seems to enjoy himself so much in his drumming.

The program these two have put together is a varied one, covering a variety of musical styles. Hunter composed the lion's share of the cuts (he produced the session), there is one Parker composition, an old standard ("You Don't Know What Love Is"), and a new not-quite-standard ("Don't Talk [Put Your Head on My Shoulder]"). The recorded sound is clean and enjoyable. Overall, then, this is quite an enjoyable recording that should appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes.

Came across this album in a listening bar, knew nothing of Hunter, and I'm hooked. This is such a refreshing sound, I am now in search of other Hunter projects that deliver the same quality.

When Charlie Hunter's expert guitar-playing ability and Leon Parker's unstoppable percussion mix together, an incredibly soothing style of music evolves. This album has it all; mellow songs, sensual songs, and of course, the songs that make you smile with delight. This is one of my favorite jazz albums because of Hunter's perfection and Parker's masterful drumming. I highly recommend this to anyone who can appreciate good music. I am more into rock music than jazz, but I can find solace in this music even when I can't find it elsewhere. 4 stars.

In a word, wow. Buy this record with all speed; I can't say what's more exciting: the recording itself or listening to an extraordinary artist continue to grow and improve with each album (especially when no room for improvement was apparent!). Living in the bay area, I miss Charlie since he moved to NYC, but our loss is the jazzworld's gain as exposure to the the amazing New York jazz scene has expanded his playing in incredible ways. This disc burns from beginning to end--how so much energy and sound can come from a duo is beyond belief. Leon Parker's "drumming" (the word doesn't really sum up what he brings to the table) is phenomenal. Don't take it from me though, as good as I make this record sound, you'll think it's better. Buy it now so you can say you had it before the rest of the world caught up with him.

Chatlie Hunter's cd's are amazing---I found this cd to be more raw and simplistic than his other cd's yet a must for anyone desiring to explore the genius of mr. Hunter.
Anthony hanley

You really should listen to a few tracks from this album before purchasing it. Charlie Hunter is an incredible guitarist, but his choice of music here is geared to a specific audience. I, unfortunately, am not among that number. However, the talent demonstrated here is clearly evident whether one likes their music on not.

It's not that Charlie Hunter isn't a good guitar player by any standard, but his simultaneous guitar/bass shtick does seem to limit his playing to a certain, comparably narrow space. In his previous ensembles this has never been a real problem, as his he has shrewdly defined his role in the band. Not so on Duo. No matter how technically astounding Hunter's "space" is, his limitations became liabilities in this unadorned duo setting, where they never or very rarely did in trio and quartet settings. Don't get me wrong, nothing on this record is bad, it's just all very similar, and as a result, frankly, a little boring. The compositions do nothing to alleviate these problems. Hearing how effective Hunter's rendition of Don't Talk is just makes the blandness of the originals all the more apparent. Of the original tunes only Do That Then sticks with me. Though his originals for trio and quartet were not uncommonly distinctive, they usually compensated with good-natured energy, drive and savvy ensemble arrangements. I am sad to say that I don't find that to be the case here.

Charlie Hunter is a very fine artist, but in my opinion this Duo project plays to his weaknesses.