Jazzkaar Interviews: Jason Hunter

Miles At 100 is now all-pervasive, as we celebrate the centenary of that shooting star pioneer of jazz trumpet. The currently-running Jazzkaar festival in Tallinn, Estonia, is also contributing to the retrospective rush, presenting a specially-conceived gig on Friday May 1st, assembled by the Stateside trumpeter Jason Hunter.

Hunter was raised in Los Angeles, but has now become an honorary Estonian, moving to Tallinn around 15 years ago. He's become embedded on the scene, leading his own band and acting as a sideman in several other outfits. Hunter also runs a weekly Wednesday night jam session at Terminal Records, a joint which vends both vinyl and beer.

Jazzkaar approached Hunter to address the works of Miles Davis, asking him to assemble a band and select a repertoire. "They gave me free rein to do what I want," says Hunter, in the bar of the Nordic Forum Hotel. "They trusted me, which is great. I really appreciate it. I've performed many times there [Jazzkaar], and I did a Louis Armstrong focus, three or four years ago. That went very well, so I was more than happy to do my best with Miles."

Hunter has elected to trawl the entire Miles discography, picking out some of his favourite numbers. "We decided to play tunes from his most famous albums, through the years, to go from the '50s all the way up to the '80s. We have stuff from Birth Of The Cool, Kind Of Blue, a tune from the time of his second famous quintet, then we have a tune from his free period, "Bitches Brew." We're going to end the gig with a few numbers from the '80s."

Although not writing full arrangements for this Estonian octet, Hunter has still moved parts around to suit this particular instrumentation. The line-up includes guitar and extra percussion, alongside the three horns and a piano trio core. "The actual forms, we've kept the same, with not a lot of added arranging parts, but I had to adjust the instrumentation, so I arranged them that way. Other than that, they're pretty much as performed on the albums."

In 2023, the veteran French lensman André Perlstein's work was displayed outside in the central square of the vibrant Telliskivi Creative City. The exhibition was launched with the help of Hunter, his quartet's retro exploration of the West Coast sound almost shocking, when today's festivals often shun this directly cool approach to swingin' propulsion and concise soloing. As the sun scorched early in the Baltics, Hunter lit the touchpaper for the 2023 Jazzkaar edition in optimistic style, joyously tripping. As many of Perlstein's most impressive monochrome images feature Miles Davis, shot in the late 1960s and early '70s, it was fitting for Hunter to lead that opening chase.

The saxophonist in that band was Allan Kaljaste. "He's actually a student of Aleksander Paal," points out Hunter. "There's a big connection there. It was ideal to get that sound when Miles had Coltrane and Cannonball together, for the Milestones and Kind Of Blue albums." Paal and Kaljaste are the saxophonists flanking Hunter in this current Miles 100 combo.

The same year of '23 brought Hunter to the Rigas Ritmi festival in Latvia. The Jason Hunter Baltic Quartet operated with an organ-groove slickness, previewing their LP on the local Jersika label. Hunter ran through a breathless sequence of funky hooks, his band concept revolving around the inclusion of players from all three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The quartet could sometimes rein back into coolness, but most of their set was charged by a precision electricity. Hunter is still touring and recording this quartet.

Just before your scribe interviewed Hunter, the trumpeter had been rehearsing with his octet. "We didn't play extended solos, but we really don't know what's going to happen, and during the '80s stuff there's a lot of free space... " Amongst the intended '80s reinterpretations are "Tutu," "Human Nature" and the lesser-known "Wrinkle," "Inspired by Prince, when he was taking over the funk scene," says Hunter. The only refugee from the 1970s is "Bitches Brew."

As a youth, Hunter left LA as soon as he could, going to study at Berklee when he was 21. "I actually auditioned at Berklee when I exited high school, and they gave me a partial scholarship, but Fullerton College offered me a full scholarship to go there, before Berklee, so I attended for a few years. I was hearing a lot of great players, like Ambrose Akinmusire and Gerald Clayton. They all went to New York, all spent time there, so it was my way to get closer to the East Coast."

Hunter met his future Estonian wife, Sofia Rubina, who had studied with Danilo Pérez and Joe Lovano. They had a child and moved to Tallinn. "I was also a bit exhausted by life in Boston, and America," Hunter recalls. "It was quieter here, things were slower, and at that time of my life I really needed that, mentally and musically. It was great to be working in America, practicing and going to jam sessions, but it wasn't easy financially. It was very stressful. Things really slowed down when I came here."

At last year's Jazzkaar, guitarist Gilad Hekselman and a pair of Snarky Puppys rolled up at the Terminal jam session, around midnight, joining Hunter's hardcore of Estonian players. This Tallinn bunch were deeply into a no-wave funk hypnotism courtesy of Defunkt or James Chance, but relaxed the leash when the Hekselman—Snarkies took to the stage, providing the audience-attentive climax to this session. "I took inspiration from the jam session I used to go to in Boston, at a place called Wally's, a kind of legendary joint. They would have groove and funk sessions with really interesting tunes, from Soulive and John Scofield. That was the goal for Terminal. We're having fun, and we're still doing it! Life for me here in Tallinn is very busy now, but I'm playing with a lot of groups. I'm very blessed, lucky to be able to play in some of the big bands here, and making some great recordings."