Songs From the Analog Playground
Charlie Hunter
Mos Def, Kurt Elling, Norah Jones
Engineer: Joe Ferla,
Producer: Charlie Hunter, Joe Ferla
Blue Note Records (USA), 2001
1 CD
Catalogue #: 33550
EAN: 0724353355029
UPC: 724353355029
You save: 25%
Charlie Hunter Quartet: Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar); John Ellis (tenor saxophone); Stephen Chopek (drums); Chris Lovejoy (percussion).
Additional personnel: Mos Def, Theryl De'Clouet, Kurt Elling, Norah Jones (vocals).
REcorded at Water Music, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Tracklist
Charlie Hunter
Although his first public exposure, in the early 1990s, was as a member of Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, Charlie Hunter has gone on to establish himself as a world-class jazz guitarist, smoothly blending bop, funk, free jazz, and pop into a vibrant whole that updates and expands the boundaries of jazz fusion. As a band leader, he shines in small-group settings, and has collaborated with a varied roster of artists from both the jazz and pop worlds. Part of his distinctive sound comes from playing a custom-built eight-stringed guitar through a rotary speaker simulator.
Mos Def
Like many rappers, New York underground hip-hop hero Mos Def was first heard on guest appearances with other artists, in this case Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. It was his 1998 collaboration with the like-minded Talib Kweli in the duo Black Star that brought him fame, however. A subsequent solo album full of similarly progressive tracks was well received, but it was Mos Def's film roles in the late '90s/early '00s (THE ITALIAN JOB, BAMBOOZLED, BROWN SUGAR, etc.) that heightened the forward-looking rapper's profile even further.
Kurt Elling
Chicago singer Kurt Elling started out singing classical repertoire as a young man, but soon developed an interest in jazz. As a contemporary jazz vocalist, Elling incorporated the "vocalese" style of Jon Hendricks and James Moody, the hipster/beatnik slant of monologist/poets like Lord Buckley, and a progressive, visionary quality all his own. Every one of Elling's first six albums was nominated for a Grammy award, and he has consistently come out on top in jazz magazine polls, yet due to the uncompromising, left-of-center nature of his work, he continues to be a cult hero, existing outside the mainstream.
Norah Jones
When young singer/pianist Norah Jones arrived in New York City from Texas, few expected that within a couple of years she'd be a chart-topping, MTV-friendly, press-besieged sensation. Yet she charmed listeners by the truckload with her 2002 Blue Note release COME AWAY WITH ME, with ethereal, wispy vocals, melodic, dewy piano work, and the songwriting acumen of such NYC cult heroes as Jesse Harris.
