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152

Album Review

Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
February 4, 2006

To say that guitarist Charlie Hunter's been busy is an understatement. Constantly touring and collaborating with Garage à Trois and Groundtruther, he still found time to record Copperopolis with a trio that has been together for over five years. This followup to 2004's Friends Seen and Unseen finds Hunter with drummer Derrek Phillips and saxophonist John Ellis exploring a rock-oriented sound. The music still grooves, but with more bite and grit, marked by harder rhythms and edgier ...

302

Album Review

John Ellis: One Foot in the Swamp

Read "One Foot in the Swamp" reviewed by Eric J. Iannelli

by Eric J. Iannelli
April 25, 2005

Reedman John Ellis has distinguished himself in recent years as a sideman and collaborator in the renowned Charlie Hunter Trio. One Foot in the Swamp, released on the New York indie jazz label Hyena, marks his third as bandleader--though his two previous albums received only limited distribution, meaning that this may seem like a remarkably confident debut to some, as it did me. The album thrives on the vibrant, often surprising mix of backward-looking, forward-thinking songwriting that listeners might have ...

273

Album Review

John Ellis: One Foot in the Swamp

Read "One Foot in the Swamp" reviewed by Joel Roberts

by Joel Roberts
March 30, 2005

If, as the title of his new album suggests, saxophonist John Ellis has one foot in the swamp--meaning the Southern-fried funk of New Orleans, where he spent his formative musical years and recorded his new disc--his other foot is firmly planted in the more adventurous modern jazz scene of his current base here in New York. It's that mix of North and South, Big Easy and Big Apple, funk and futuristic sounds that makes Ellis one of the more exciting ...

392

Album Review

John Ellis: One Foot in the Swamp

Read "One Foot in the Swamp" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
March 19, 2005

Coming from a member of eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter's various bands for the past few years, reedman John Ellis' first release to receive national exposure might be something you'd expect to be filled with infectious grooves and catchy melodies. And, to be sure, One Foot in the Swamp has its share of both. But as much as tunes like “Happy have a joyful New Orleans swagger and singable theme, Ellis--truly a cosmopolitan player who has spent as much time in ...

207

Album Review

John Ellis: One Foot In the Swamp

Read "One Foot In the Swamp" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 25, 2005

"Calmette Shawarma" (track 10 on this release) is one of those rare jazz compositions that is beautifully tethered to nothing and makes perfect sense when you hear it. It begins with a “standard" jazz head that is complex in the way Jazz Messengers heads were in the '50s and '60s when Wayne Shorter was redefining the meaning of hard bop. This inspired ensemble playing demonstrates the depth of trumpeter Nicholas Payton's vision. The piece begins in an orderly enough fashion ...

159

Album Review

Charlie Hunter: Friends Seen and Unseen

Read "Friends Seen and Unseen" reviewed by Sean Patrick Fitzell

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
October 15, 2004

Still mining inspiration from his relocation to New York, eight-string guitar wizard Charlie Hunter returns to the trio format for Friends Seen and Unseen. The trio offers plenty of open space, though with Hunter's unique style of playing bass lines and guitar melodies simultaneously, the group can often sound like a quartet. Hunter and his partners, saxophonist John Ellis and drummer Derrek Phillips, relish the opportunity to alternately hunker down in and float around the irresistible rhythms. The result is ...

204

Album Review

The Charlie Hunter Trio: Friends Seen and Unseen

Read "Friends Seen and Unseen" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
July 9, 2004

Charlie Hunter is groove incarnate. Whether in his own groups, as a member of Garage a Trois, in duet with Bobby Previte, or reuniting with TJ Kirk (all this activity in the past year), this master of the eight-string guitar radiates an infectious joy that permeates his own playing as well as the musicianship of those around him. On much of his new album, Friends Seen and Unseen , Hunter sets the stage for his two partners, in just the ...