[rating=3.00]
Public Domain (Spire Artists) is the follow-up to Charlie Hunter’s first such album, 2000’s Solo 8-String Guitar, now long out of print on disc from Contra Punto Records (though still available as a download). As indicated by its title, this new work consists of largely familiar tunes, all of which have been around long enough for their copyrights to expire (as stipulated by law, after seventy years). In doing justice to the material in his own imitable fashion, however, Hunter insures the songs will retain their indelible mark on contemporary culture.
Recorded in a day at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, Charlie’s playing on his seven-string guitar carries reverence, affection and, most important of all, invention. Thinking in the moment in more ways than one, Hunter re-imagines many of the tunes, such as the opener, “Ain’t We Got Fun,” where he weaves in and out of the melody, rather than just play it straight. Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” may not get much reference these days, but that only makes Charlie’s choice (one of eleven selected from list of a hundred by the guitarist’s grandfather), more notable, not to mention memorable, given the propulsive treatment he applies.
The recording quality throughout this disc has a definite ‘you are there’ ambiance. Recorded live, with no subsequent editing, promotes hearing Hunter’s unusual approach to his instrument and how that idiosyncratic style informs Public Domain. The streak of blues that’s become ever wider in the Bay Area native’s music the last few years becomes prominent on “Danny Boy,” as no listener will ever miss other rhythm or melody instruments with this man playing by himself.
Whether or not Charlie recorded these songs in the order they appear on the record, the music flows virtually on its own and, by the time Public Domain concludes, with a virtual coupling of “Meet Me in St Louis” and “St Louis Blues,” it’s apparent how much preparation and thought were involved (including the simulated vinyl graphics on the disc) as a means of making it sound so deliciously spontaneous.
