When I saw Charlie Hunter live last month, I bought a copy of his latest CD, Baboon Strength. I've already talked about his skill and technique in my review, so I won't rehash all of that. Suffice it to say, he's an incredible player and he surrounds himself with exceptional players, too. Even though the band played a number of tracks off the new CD in their show, the touring band was a different group than the group that recorded Baboon Strength. This is significant because the touring band had a couple of horn players and no keyboard while the CD was a trio lineup with Eric Deutsch on keys and Tony Mason on drums. I was interested to see how the CD would compare. It turns out that, even though I really enjoyed the show, listening to the CD was a completely different experience. Sure, the album has a heavy focus on keys, which were missing in the live show. But another big difference is that the live arrangements were a lot looser and less melodic than the CD.Overall, this album is more approachable than some of Charlie's earlier work. Throughout his full catalog, he often layers a jazzy, slightly distorted guitar over a steady funk beat. This album has plenty of that, but the playing doesn't move as far outside. That brings up a bit of a conflict. Jazz aficianados enjoy the challenge of music pushing boundaries while lay audiences hear this as disorganized noise. On this album, the songs are more melodic and almost asking for vocals. On the other hand, there's still enough going on musically to keep the sophisticates engaged. In a lot of ways, this disc sounds similar to his last album, Mistico, which also featured Eric Deutsch. They're similar but Baboon Strength has more of a bluesy sort of thread running through the pieces. on this CD. That and the melodic clarity make this a very listenable album.
The disc opens with Athens, a simple funky groove with a piercing keyboard wail. The bridge soars into wall of chords that could be an outtake from a Blues Traveler session. This two section contrast is a formula that Charlie uses fairly often. The next track, Astronaut Love Triangle, has some of the same structure but the funk is replaced by more of a bouncy trance groove. In this song, Charlie sounds more like a stacatto keyboard. Later on the disc, Welcome to Frankfurt hits a similar techno sound.
You might recognize track 3's Difford Tilbrook as the names of the songwriters from Squeeze. This is deliberate, since the intro is similar to their song Tempted. After a couple of times around, it drifts into a moodier original sound, but I can imagine ironic vocals complementing this. Between this and the ballad A Song for Karen Carpenter, I'd really like to see Charlie Hunter collaborate with a lyricist.
Skipping around a little, my favorite track is Baboon Strength, which sounds like a 60's movie soundtrack: groovy psychedelia grown out of a distorted echo, some doubled keyboard and guitar, and a trippy organ solo. A close second is AbadabA, which is moody and contemplative. It has a similar retro sound as Baboon Strength, disoriented and dreamy spy music. There's even a hint of Joe's Garage era Frank Zappa in there. The live version at the show had more of an Oingo Boingo feel because of the horns but the keyboard version sounded great.
Listening to Charlie Hunter's different projects, the end results are strongly influenced by the group he's playing with. Whether it's heavy jazz fusion with Garage a Trois or more traditional jazz work on his cover of Natty Dread, he's adept at fitting together with the particular players and project to get a unique sound. This project showcases Eric Deutsch's keyboard work but it's still unmistakably Charlie Hunter. If you're not familiar with Charlie, give this disc a listen. If you already follow him, catch up with this one.
Dirty martinis and canapes will complement the retro sound. Relax and tap your feet.
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