Customer Reviews

Friends Seen & Unseen

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

. . . when Charlie Hunter could get by with this kind of thing sheerly on its novelty value.

That time is past.

Thank goodness.

Since he first began plying his trade as one of the very few practitioners of eight-string, bass 'n' rhythm/comping/lead guitar playing in the history of jazz, he has staked out territory almost exclusively his own. Everyone from casual listeners to professional guitarists scratches his head in amazement at both the brain ordering and manual dexterity necessary to play both bass and guitar lines simultaneously.

But the time eventually comes when the novelty wears off. What then? Unless an iconoclastic artist like Hunter can develop an authentic voice worth hearing, there's not a whole lot left.

With his last two discs, Right Now Move and esp. this one, Friends Seen and Unseen, Hunter has honed his approach to a point where he transcends the limitations of his instrument.

A question regarding Hunter has always either been directly in play or at least hanging on the fringes of any encounter with the man or his music, namely, Why don't you just hire a bass player and concentrate on developing your guitar technique? Friends Seen and Unseen, I believe, definitely answers that question.

Stripped down to a trio format, with longtime mates John Ellis (tenor sax, bass clarinet, and flute) and Derrek Phillips (drums) on board, this group on Friends . . . stakes out and defines a kind of bloozy/funky territory all its own. Hunter has been slowly working his way up to producing a disc of this magnitude, and, after nearly a decade, has finally nailed it. All the effort honing his approach, integrating his brain and fingers, has finally delivered the kind or relaxed, entirely pleasurable, impossible-to-gainsay disc that fans of his have, lo these many years, yearned for.

What vaults this disc ahead of Right Now Move is the results he achieves with the minimal sound palette. In a way, it's a lot easier to make a memorable statement with a larger ensemble of players, e.g., recent efforts by Mike Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Josh Roseman, and others. That I believe he did with his last disc. Having the confidence gained from its nearly universal success both commercially and popularly, Hunter took a chance and returned to the paired-down format of bass/guitar, sax, and drums. Perhaps it's just that after doing this kind of thing for the last decade has finally enabled him to reach critical mass; perhaps the stars were somehow serendipitously aligned; perhaps these players have achieve a kind of group simpatico that only occasionally visits those who've been faithful to their muse. I don't know. What I do know is that this is one smokin' disc.

I confess that I prefer Hunter in a more adventurous setting, as with, e.g., Garage a Trois, but this disc, if carefully attended to, graces the thoughtful listener with its own unique pleasures. Not to be missed.

I think the stripped down feel of this album suits Charlie well. He's still playing bass with that 8th string. There are still times he sounds more like he's playing the organ instead of the guitar. However, there's more of an overall "guitar" sound. Also there's a variety of styles and bit of a harder edge to the proceedings. A very fine effort that shows Charlie belongs in the same league as "Sco", Metheny and Frisell.

I smile every time I listen to this album.

Charlie Hunter really has it together in the 10 tracks of Friends Seen and Unseen. If you've heard some of his older material, you'll notice how tight his bass + guitar sounds relative to his [already good] earlier work.

This album was the first time I'd heard John Ellis. He has a great sound, and I especially like his bass clarinet work. My favorite moment in the entire album is the bass clarinet solo about 1:15 in on My Son the Hurricane. If you liked John Ellis' One Foot in the Swamp, then you should really like this album.

Derrek Phillips lays down a solid beat--very jazz.

Altogether, the three make for a great combo.

Relative to Charlie Hunter's other work: this album is more conventional than Garage à Trois, but slightly more innovative than Steady Groovin'. It's good music to play when hanging out with friends.

I bought this not knowing who Charlie Hunter was, who the musicians on this album was, what kind of jazz it was, and what year this was produced. The only reason I really got it was because of the cover.

Anyway, I brought this home, while reading the cd book, seeing the lineup was Charlie Hunter on guitar, Jon Ellis on reeds, and Derek Phillips. My first question was obviously, where's the bass player? Not being familiar with the 8 string guitar, but thinking it had something to do with playing the guitar and the bass at the same time.

Putting the cd on, I listened to the groove of the first track. It was cool. Now as I learned more about Charlie Hunter and what he does, I've come to love this album, and I can safely say it is one of the best jazz albums I've heard in years. The only problem I'm having with this, is that there's no indication of the year this was released.

Charlie Hunter is one of jazz's finest guitar players. Although he didn't invent the style of guitar in which he plays, he's an excellent song writer, and his fellow musicians can play!

There's only about one song that is in 4/4 time! This album hosts magnificent musicianship all around. This is a wonderful album, and the playing is some of the best playing I have ever heard. Most the musicians here are relatively unkown, but I find this puzzling, because they play so well.

I am really looking foward to buying some more Charlie Hunter records. If they are as good as this one, Charlie Hunter will continue to be one of my favorite artists for years to come.

On Amazon an album with 3 stars seems to be not good enough to buy. That's not really the case here. When you like guitar, funk, Scofield and a touch of blues you might like this one. But it's the same as with some powerblues, funk, straight ahead big band or soul: the music gets boring too quick. There doesn't happen enough for me and a minimalistic approach only works when the notes that aren't played build up tension. In funky music that simply is never the case, except when there's a really great musical personality at work.
Muddy Waters played great blues and it didn't matter that you exactly knew what to expect. The music was just so intens that it got (and still gets) to you. Scofield has such a unique way of playing that he can make albums like this sound much more interesting. There just has to be something extra in the music (and it really doesn't matter what)to give an album 4 stars.

And still, when I've got company it's a nice album to put on. The solo's never get in the way of good (or bad) conversation and the music will not even irritate your mother-in-law.

The reason I bought the album, was because of the combination guitar and reeds that play some of the themes in the beginning of the songs. You can hear it when you play the amazon-fragments. Due to these fragments I thought the album had something more to offer, but it didn't.

But it's still a nice album.

In this album they have an orginal layered sound and are working to reach a more rock/funk feel. Each of the three bring an awesome talent and style. They are unlike any jazz trio you've heard before or will again.

There is not a bad track and it can be listened to over and over. You may want to buy this album with Cooperopolis. You'll hear the the sound that they start to develop in this album and take to an even higher level.