[rating=7.00]
Given Charlie Hunter’s use of a seven (once eight) string guitar, it should come as no surprise that, with Curtis Fowlkes on trombone and Bobby Previte on drums and cymbals, Let the Bells Ring On finds the musicians in a wide variety of spaces and places. Yet it’s uncanny how the trio shed new light on those subtle niches of style, some of which they’ve explored together before and some of which they have not.
Take “Anthem USA” for instance which, with its ominous gait, sounds like nothing so much as another ambient expedition by Groundtruther, the band in which Hunter and Previte ranged so far and wide with a lengthy list of other players. But then all of a sudden, Fowlkes plays a lilting series of notes and its The Charlie Hunter Trio and Quintet of yore, airy sweet instrumental music.
The opening track thus sets a tone in miniature for the record in which Hunter, Previte and Fowlkes move nimbly through unorthodox changes like those of “Those People” and just as gracefully transition from the structure of “Pho-Kus on Ho-Ho-Kus” into solo turns on horn and guitar prodded by softly insistent drumming. These three are comfortable playing with each other in the best possible way, instinctively anticipating each other’s moves to complement both rhythmic and melodic twists and turns. Little surprise then, that “Hillbilly Heroine Chic” finds guitarist and drummer in snappy interplay while the trombonist floats fluid lines in contrast over the top.
Yet it’s not as if this record is a return to a previously configured style for Charlie Hunter and company. In fact, there may not be a track like this title tune in the guitarist’s discography; for all intents and purposes, it’s a twelve-bar blues, with an emphatic downbeat supplied by Previte that balances the soulful seven-string language and trombone lines that evoke a New Orleans funeral march. There is, however an abundance of joy permeating these recordings even if they don’t have tongue in cheek titles like the bouncy “Welcome to Nutley” and that’s always been an asset of Hunter’s.
Even given the sparse arrangements, engineer Fabian Rucker deserves kudos for the recording and mixing and Dave McNair as much so for mastering; all the nuances come through on these ten tracks (in stereo of sorts, a departure from the last couple mono endeavors of Hunter’s). And there’s plenty of those, so many, in fact, the potential durability of Let The Bells Ring On lies in hearing this (repeatedly and often) with focus on each of the three musicians in succession, precisely because Hunter, Previte and Fowlkes have such fully-developed personalities on their respective instruments.
This well-sequenced collection allows for some quiet contemplation on“Fellini Farm Team”in preparation for dancing all the way through “Ojai Housecoat of Arms,” even as “Vernel” signals the homestretch. And during “Spence,” Charlie Hunter, Bobby Previte and Curtis Fowlkes bring the proceedings to a gleefully whimsical close, enacting a ballet-like waltz as they interact with all the ease and finesse of musicians who truly love playing with each other.
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