Jazz Review : Hunter Puts On Musical Magic Show

There was a magic-show “how’d they do that?” quality to guitarist Charlie Hunter’s show Thursday at the House of Blues. Appearances were audibly deceptive.

Hunter’s three-man combo sounds much like an organ trio, but no organ was on stage. The group’s accessibly rhythmic material relies on solid bass lines, but there was no bass player to be seen.

How it’s done is no secret, really. Hunter plays an eight-string guitar, with three strings devoted to bass, the others to the instrument’s normal range. Much like an organist who plays bass on the foot pedals while working the keyboard with his hands, Hunter plays both lead and bottom parts simultaneously, a talent that literally allows him to be in two places at once. Add the play of saxophonist Dave Ellis and drummer Scott Amendola and the Bay Area-based Hunter trio sounds like a much larger combo.

Comparisons to an organ trio are apt. The group explores the same kind of R&B-flavored; material favored by the more progressive school of organists such as Charles Earland and the late Larry Young. And Hunter’s electric tones often recall the grind and whine of the Hammond B-3.

But there were contemporary twists a plenty during the group’s provocative set, ranging from funky, James Brown riffs (Hunter’s other project is the band J.T. Kirk, an ensemble dedicated to the music of Rahssan Roland Kirk, Thelonious Monk and funk-master Brown) to the inclusion of a suitably unsettled version of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are.”

In sharing the bulk of the improvisational duties, saxophonist Ellis came across as a cool Coltrane, offering emotional statements that never resorted to histrionics. Drummer Amendola also worked with a touch of understatement, though his propulsive beats were firm and on-the-money.

Hunter’s own play, though not terribly ambitious, worked to the rhythms in considered, well-connected style. There were times when it seemed he would cut loose, but didn’t, and one couldn’t help but think that his double-duty on bass was cramping his play. But for the most part, Hunter’s improvisations were thoughtful, bump-along affairs that could hold your interest for their entire length. With the Charlie Hunter Trio, seeing is believing.