Charlie Hunter & Bobby Previte as Groundtruther: Longitude

The duo teamed up on the 2003 Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader and soon went on the create the Groundtruther project which invites a third artist to collaborate. Last year it was saxophonist Greg Osby on Latitude, and a third disc, Altitude, will be forthcoming.

Where the Osby collaboration sometimes missed the mark, this disc with DJ Logic finds pay dirt. Logic, comfortable in both hip-hop and jazz worlds, has worked with Medeski, Martin & Wood, Karl Denson, Sex Mob, and the Yohimbe Brothers. His turntable work fits well with drummer Bobby Previte's love for the monsters of rock, which he has explored in Ponga and Latin For Travelers. Likewise, guitarist Charlie Hunter dips his eight-string into the rock and funk world with T.J. Kirk, Pound For Pound, and Garage A Trois.

The disc opens with the infectious beats of "Transit Of Venus, Hunter's bass line thumping under the bits and pieces Logic snips from his turntables. Where sampling can be so predictable, the live action of beats, bass, and spun samples has a life force. Dammit, they are making music here!

The trio bring the weighted sound on "Course Made Good, Previte kicking the kick drum and Hunter setting his Zeppelin sound, then what the... the music is driven underwater or played through a set of blown speakers... ouch! The trio revisits the weight in a live setting on "Dead Reckoning. In a gesture mocking every rock guitarist who has stalled mid-solo, Hunter grasps for notes. Previte thumps a couple off for fun, and they proceed to throw down a tsunami of sound. Powerful stuff here.

The remaining disc is quite infectious. These three musicians make the case for jazz, rock, and hip-hop to be played together and to be played live.

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