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39-507: Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, and melodies. Critic Sean Westergaard described Hunter's technique as "mind-boggling...he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off." Hunter's technique

78-441: A "tougher funky aspect" by incorporating string bends, double stops and partial chords that variously borrow from blues , R&B and swing styles. Throughout the 1940s, Pass became interested in modern jazz sounds that were emerging from New York City , where would jam with many quintessential bebop musicians. Pass cited Dizzy Gillespie , Charlie Parker , Art Tatum and Coleman Hawkins as influences during this time. Pass

117-563: A Fender Bass VI 6-string bass on his 1963 album Catch Me . In 1963, Pass was gifted a Gibson ES175D arch-top electric-acoustic guitar that had twin humbucking pickups . New York magazine wrote: "Joe Pass looks like somebody's uncle and plays guitar like nobody's business. He's called 'the world's greatest' and often compared to Paganini for his virtuosity. There is a certain purity to his sound that makes him stand out easily from other first-rate jazz guitarists." He weaves his own fast-moving chords and filigree work so nimbly that it

156-499: A groundbreaking tour with a new quartet that included a trombone, an instrument seldom seen in his previous line-ups. After releasing Blue Note’s "Songs of the Analog Playground" which featured Norah Jones, Kurt Elling, Mos Def, Theryl DeClouet, he continued to work with vocalists such as D’Angelo, Frank Ocean, John Mayer, alongside emerging voices like Dara Tucker, Lucy Woodward, Silvana Estrada, Maritzaida and Victoria Elliott. By

195-732: A knife in my heart." Pass died from liver cancer in Los Angeles 16 days later, at the age of 65. Prior to his death, he recorded an album of Hank Williams songs with country guitarist Roy Clark . Speaking about Nuages: Live at Yoshi's, Volume 2, Jim Ferguson wrote: The follow up to 1993's Joe Pass & Co. Live at Yoshi's, this release was colored by sad circumstances: both bassist Monty Budwig and Pass were stricken with fatal illnesses. Nevertheless, all concerned, including drummer Colin Bailey and second guitarist John Pisano, play up to their usual high levels...Issued posthumously, this material

234-463: A modified 7-string on the formerly-8 string body. Hunter has mentioned that because of his small hands, he had to move out of position to make use of the 8th string and thus wasn't using it much. A change in Hunter's style away from the organ sound into a more blues and distortion based sound happened at the same time. After removing the 8th string, Hunter retuned all of the strings up a half step: F-Bb-Eb on

273-527: A more inclusive music community. His various collaborations are instrumental in escalating the careers of many budding artists, further establishing his reputation as a producer, collaborator and mentor. After a long-distance collaboration, former Blue Note label mate and GRAMMY award-winning vocalist, Kurt Elling , alongside Hunter, Corey Fonville, and DJ Harrison ( Butcher Brown ), debuted their innovative band, SuperBlue, in late 2020. Their unique blend of traditional jazz elements with modern influences heralds

312-616: A music degree from the New School in New York City and won second place in the 2002 Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz International Saxophone Competition . He traveled to Africa as a cultural ambassador for the United States Information Agency . With playwright Andy Bragen Ellis composed the theatrical works Dreamscapes , The Ice Siren , and Mobro . An album version of The Ice Siren with Gretchen Parlato on vocals

351-680: A new era of music exploration. Following their debut, the band embarked on several international tours and released four LPs. SuperBlue has been nominated twice for the GRAMMY awards. Hunter currently plays 6 and 7 string guitars made by Hybrid Guitars Co. Hybrid Guitars was founded in 2015 when he teamed up with luthiers Clay Conner and Wes Lambe to produce fanned-fret instruments to his specifications. www.hybrid-guitars.com Previously, Hunter played custom-made seven-string guitar/s made by Jeff Traugott, eight-string guitar/s made by luthier Ralph Novak of Novax Guitars. He played chords and lead guitar solos on

390-408: A saxophonist's stream of consciousness ." As Pass's career progressed, he developed an increasingly harmonic approach to improvisation that made extensive use of chord-melody solos, which produced a similar effect to that of a piano. He also employed a variety of different picking techniques such as fingerpicking , hybrid picking and "flat picking". Pass's style was also said to have exhibited

429-592: A series of albums during the 1960s under Pacific Jazz Records , including Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. In 1963, he received DownBeat magazine's New Star Award. He also played on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson , Bud Shank , and Les McCann . Pass was a member of the George Shearing Quintet from 1965 through 1967. Throughout the 1960s, Pass primarily did TV and recording session work in Los Angeles, including performing in television orchestras. Norman Granz ,

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468-444: A staunch advocate for artist rights, he gained control of his master recordings, which he subsequently remastered and reissued. SideHustle Records’ artist development house is committed to nurturing emerging talent. Occasionally teaming up with The Little Village Foundation , a non-profit organization known for its dedication to promoting and preserving diverse cultural expressions, Hunter works to amplify new voices and talents and build

507-419: Is hard to believe fingers can physically shift so quickly. Slight moustached, fairly balding, he frowns over his fretwork like a worried head waiter with more guests than tables but the sound that comes out could only be the confident product of years of devotion to the instrument... But it is when he plays completely solo, which he does for half of each set, that he comes into his own, because without hindrance of

546-415: Is hardly sub-standard. Bristling with energy throughout, it helps document the final stages in the career of a player who, arguably, was the greatest mainstream guitarist since Wes Montgomery . Pass's playing style has been described as "conventional". He was particularly noted for his ability to simultaneously play melody, harmony and basslines at extremely high tempos. Pass's single-note playing style

585-776: Is rooted in the styles of jazz guitarists Joe Pass and Tuck Andress, two of his biggest influences, who blended bass notes with melody in a way that created the illusion of two guitars. Charlie Hunter's affinity for guitars was cultivated from a young age, largely due to his mother's profession as a guitar repairer. He and his mother and sister lived for several years on a commune in Mendocino County , California, then settled in Berkeley . Hunter attended Berkeley High School and took lessons from rock guitarist Joe Satriani . At eighteen he moved to Paris. He has stated that busking in Paris gave him on

624-442: Is similar to the instrumental stylings of classic bebop and hard bop , drawing comparisons to the tones and timbres of wind instruments used in jazz music, such as the saxophone and trumpet , as well as other string instruments such as the piano . Jazz educator Wolf Marshall said Pass's musical flavorings were "hornlike and on par with his wealth of ideas and immense vocabulary, allowing single-note improvisations to flow like

663-642: The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group . As part of the Pablo roster, Pass recorded with Benny Carter , Milt Jackson , Herb Ellis , Zoot Sims , Duke Ellington , Dizzy Gillespie , Ella Fitzgerald , and Count Basie . Pass and Ella Fitzgerald recorded six albums together on Pablo toward the end of Fitzgerald's career: Take Love Easy (1973), Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), Hamburg Duets - 1976 (1976), Sophisticated Lady (1975, 1983), Speak Love (1983), and Easy Living (1986). Pass

702-556: The US military . Pass developed an addiction to heroin after his tenure in the military had ended. He lived in New Orleans for a year, playing bebop at strip clubs . Pass later revealed that he had suffered a " nervous breakdown " in New Orleans due to virtually unlimited access to drugs that enabled the musician to engage in severe benders. Pass recalled, "I would come to New York a lot, then get strung out and leave." Pass spent much of

741-499: The 1950s in and out of prison for drug-related convictions. Pass said, "staying high was my first priority; playing was second; girls were third. But the first thing really took all my energy." He recovered after a two-and-a-half-year stay in the Synanon rehabilitation program, largely putting his music on hold during his prison sentence. Pass's released his studio debut Sounds of Synanon on July 1, 1962. Pass recorded and released

780-540: The 1997 release beat the odds by becoming arguably Hunter’s best album. Teaming with vibraphonist Stefon Harris and percussionist John Santos, Charlie Hunter & Pound for Pound released Return of the Candyman (Blue Note 1998). A departure from Natty Dread , mainly due to the work of Harris, the disc featured a vibes-heavy cover of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle.” He performed on three songs on D'Angelo's album Voodoo (2000), including " The Root ". He has stated that

819-549: The Analog Playground , which saw him collaborating with vocalists for the first time, ranging from labelmates Norah Jones and Kurt Elling to Mos Def . 2003 found Hunter with a new label (Ropeadope) and two new bands (the Charlie Hunter Quintet) on Right Now Move, and the beginning of Groundtruther, a partnership with percussionist/composer Bobby Previte . They released Come in Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader before adopting

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858-477: The Charlie Hunter Trio resurfaced with Copperopolis . After recruiting Erik Deutsch on keys and Simon Lott on drums, the trio released Mistico in the summer of 2007. In 2008, Hunter released the self-titled Charlie Hunter Trio and "Baboon Strength" and then continued into the new decade with "Gentlemen, I Neglected to Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid." Hunter's exploration into various genres led to

897-510: The Groundtruther moniker. In 2003 he released Friends Seen and Unseen , with drummer Derrek Phillips and saxman John Ellis (saxophonist) , both members of the Quintet. By now, Groundtruther had taken on a life of its own, with Hunter and Previte joined by a rotating third member. Latitude was first, in 2004 with saxophonist Greg Osby , followed by Longitude with DJ Logic in 2005. In 2006,

936-545: The bass and Bb-Eb-Ab-C on the guitar. As of 2008, he had once again retuned up another whole step: G-C-F on the bass and C-F-Bb-D on the guitar. With Groundtruther With Victoria Victoria With SuperBlue (with Kurt Elling ) With Garage a Trois With T. J. Kirk With Bobby Previte With others Producing SuperBlue (with Kurt Elling ) Joe Pass Pass was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey , on January 13, 1929. His father, Mariano Passalacqua,

975-540: The company of other guitarists and listen to the music that was being created. Pass was finding paying gigs at dances and weddings in Johnstown as early as age 14, playing with bands led by Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet , honing his guitar skills while "learning the ropes" in the music industry. He began traveling with small jazz groups and moved from Pennsylvania to New York City. Pass would continue to perform with big bands until 1947, when he enlisted and served in

1014-515: The creation of a unique catalog of instrumental music From 2008 to 2018, he released a series of albums that further explored his 7-string guitar style. Highlights during this period were “Baboon Strength” (2008), “Gentlemen I Neglected to Tell You You Will Not Be Getting Paid” (2009), “ Let the Bells Ring On" (2015), "Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth" (2016). In 2016, he embarked on

1053-564: The end of the decade, Hunter’s innovative and pioneering contributions to the jazz genre had significantly reshaped its landscape, earning him a place among the most influential jazz artists of the 21st century. During the 2019 pandemic, Hunter turned his attention towards music production and long-distance collaborations. This led to the creation of Wheelhouse Beats , a groundbreaking metronome app featuring some of today’s most notable drummers. Furthermore, Hunter founded SideHustle Records , his personal record label and artist development house. As

1092-414: The instrument featured fanned frets and separate pickups for its guitar and bass portions. Picking bass notes with his right thumb while fretting them with his left index finger (while at the same time fingerpicking guitar chords and single notes with his right hand’s remaining four digits as he frets with his left hand’s other three fingers), Hunter achieves the real sound of two-for-one. Hunter played with

1131-707: The job training. Returning to San Francisco, he played seven-string guitar in Michael Franti's political rap group, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy . In 1992, they were one of the opening acts for U2's Zoo TV Tour . For his self-titled 1993 debut album, Charlie Hunter Trio (PrawnSong 1993), Hunter played a seven-string guitar for the duality effect, locking down the bottom with drummer Jay Lane and mixing melodically with saxophonist Dave Ellis (saxophonist) . But on his trio’s 1995 sophomore release, Bing, Bing, Bing! ( Blue Note , 1995), he unveiled his custom-made Novax eight-string guitar . Designed by Ralph Novak,

1170-602: The producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve Records , signed Pass to Pablo Records in December 1973. In December 1974, Pass released his solo album Virtuoso on Pablo. Also in 1974, Pablo released the album The Trio with Pass, Oscar Peterson , and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen . He performed with them on many occasions throughout the 1970s and 1980s. At the Grammy Awards of 1975, The Trio won

1209-478: The rhythm section he can completely orchestrate each number. Sometimes it is by contrasting out of tempo sections with fast-moving interludes, sometimes by switching mood from wistful to lightly swinging, sometimes by alternating single-note lines with chords or simultaneous bass line and melody – the possibilities seem endless. Veteran jazz writer Scott Yanow has conferred the titles of "the ultimate bebop guitarist", "the epitome of virtuoso guitarists", and "one of

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1248-416: The session for the song was the most challenging session he has worked on. In between tours he recorded a 1999 duo album with drummer/percussionist Leon Parker and a self-titled 2000 album that featured Parker and an otherwise ensemble cast. Hunter also contributed greatly to the 2000 comeback album by drummer Mike Clark (drummer) , Actual Proof. Hunter concluded his run at Blue Note with 2001’s Songs from

1287-459: The side group T.J. Kirk in the mid-’90s, a band that derived their name from the cover material they exclusively played: Thelonious Monk, James Brown, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. T.J. Kirk released a self-titled 1995 debut and their 1996 follow-up, If Four Was One received a GRAMMY nomination. Hunter’s next project was an instrumental remake of Bob Marley’s Natty Dread album in its entirety. Also featuring saxophonists Kenny Brooks and Calder Spanier,

1326-423: The top five strings (tuned ADGBE), and simultaneously played bass lines on the bottom three strings (tuned EAD). With the addition of a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere (a Leslie rotary speaker simulator), his unique style produced a sound similar to that of a Hammond organ —an instrument he set out to imitate. In 2006, Hunter removed the top guitar string and had the neck of his guitar reworked and now plays

1365-506: The top jazz voices of his generation" on Pass. John Ellis (saxophonist) John Axson Ellis (born April 13, 1974) is an American jazz saxophonist. He performed in the group Doublewide with Jason Marsalis . A native of North Carolina, Ellis learned clarinet and piano as a child. During the 1990s in New Orleans he studied with Ellis Marsalis and performed with Brian Blade and Nicholas Payton . He released his debut album, Language of Love , independently in 1996. He received

1404-422: Was a Harmony, and that he had asked for a guitar for his birthday. He began playing for neighbors, and learned chords from his father's Italian friends. He attended guitar lessons every Sunday with a local teacher for six to eight months and practiced for up to six hours per day, rapidly advancing in skill level. As he improved his craft, he participated in the local music scene of Johnstown , where he would enjoy

1443-595: Was a steel-mill worker who was born in Sicily . The family later moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania . Although it is commonly believed that Pass became interested playing guitar after seeing Gene Autry perform in the Western film Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride (an account that had been given by Pass himself), Pass later stated he did not remember who or what inspired him to pursue music. Pass received his first guitar and started creating music when at age 9. Pass stated his first guitar

1482-489: Was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1992. Although he was initially responsive to treatment and continued to play into 1993, his health eventually declined, forcing him to cancel his tour with Pepe Romero , Paco Peña , and Leo Kottke . Pass performed for the final time on May 7, 1994, with fellow guitarist John Pisano at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Pisano told Guitar Player that after the performance Pass said "I can't play anymore", an exchange that Pisano described as "like

1521-507: Was later influenced by the piano stylings of Oscar Peterson . Ironically, only three of the various jazz musicians he had cited as influences on his playing were actually guitarists; he cited Charlie Christian , Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery as instrumental in his development as a musician. On Pass's early recordings, he played Fender solid-body electric guitars, such as the Jaguar and Jazzmaster . Additionally, Pass experimented with

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