Charlie Hunter Trio - Friends Seen and Unseen

Artist: Charlie Hunter Trio
Title: Friends Seen and Unseen
Label: Rykodisc UK
UPC: 014431604928
Price: $14.98

About Charlie Hunter Trio - Friends Seen and Unseen

Hunter has scaled down from the 2003 quintet of Right Now Move, returning to the guitar-drums-saxophone format that he launched in 1993. Retaining Derrek Phillips on drums and John Ellis on tenor, flute, and bass clarinet, Hunter continues to find fresh approaches to the groove, using his 8-string guitar to create bass lines and organ-style riffs in support of his minimalist leads. He's a master of musical inference: witness "Soweto's Where It's At," a serene invocation of the South African township, drenched in American gospel and roots blues. "Shuffle" builds its electric intensity from Hunter's wah-wah pedal, while "Bonus Round" is a kind of high-speed bop with subtle harmonic dimension. It's often the slow tunes here that show Hunter's finest qualities. "Slow Blues" is just that, testimony to how much the guitarist has grown. It's perfect, soulful playing, anchored by Phillips's time-keeping and amplified by Ellis's tenor. --Stuart Broomer

Charlie Hunter Trio - Friends Seen and Unseen Reviews

Average Rating: 4.5

Rating: 5
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.

Rating: 5
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.

Rating: 3
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.

Rating: 5
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.

Rating: 5
From the first time one hears Charlie Hunter, one has an odd sense you're listening to the "Dynamic Duo" days of Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery...except that the crazy 8-string guitarist is playing both Jimmy AND Wes' parts at the same time. Over the past decade, Hunter's proven that his 8-strings-and-the-truth routine is no gimmick, but an original and spicey approach to making jazz your posterior can groove to. While his "Right Now Move" quintet was intriguing and eclectic--how many jazz bands have a harmonica soloist?--here he pares down the layers for some deep-dish trio interaction with Ellis & Phillips, both of whom have considerably more space to stretch out and indulge in expressionistic and colorful explorations of their own. As always, the funk quotient is quite high, but some of the blues and gospel influences allow for more leisurely, molasses-thick vamps straight out of 'Nawlins. Instrumentally this is especially a showcase for Ellis--playing bass clarinet and flute in addition to sax expands his tonal pallete considerably, and to wonderful effect. Mosey, sidle, or slide over to your local music establishment to get ahold of what Hunter peddles, as it might soon be 'unseen'...