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Charlie Hunter Trio
Mistico
(Fantasy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2007, Volume 14, #8
Written by John Metzger
The difficulties that jazz artists face when they opt to cater to a jam band
crowd is that if they aren’t careful, their creative potential can be
significantly diluted — and even derailed — by the venture. Simply put, it can
be a highly restrictive format that is akin to progressive rock, and the
problems that the jam band ethic poses are not unlike those that many musicians
encountered in the 1970s when jazz-fusion became a more lucrative manner of
making a living. For a guitarist, the challenges become all the more daunting
because technical wizardry and weird sound effects have a tendency to win when
pitted against the forces of emotional purity. Charlie Hunter is the latest
axeman to plunge headfirst into the abyss, and although his latest effort Mistico proves that he survived the fall, it also highlights how many
injuries he sustained.
This latest chapter in Hunter’s musical odyssey began with the departure of
John Ellis. Rather than return to the framework of his trios from the past,
Hunter rebuilt his outfit from the ground up. Not only did he swap drummer
Derrek Phillips for Simon Lott, but he also replaced saxophonist Ellis with
keyboard player Erik Deutsch. It was the latter modification that has spurred
what is, perhaps, the biggest change in Hunter’s approach.
Where John Ellis — as well as Greg Osby, Kenny Brooks, and Dave Ellis before
him — once sparred with Hunter and thus kept him grounded, Deutsch seems
relegated, whether by choice or by happenstance, to a supporting role. His
talent is wasted most whenever he switches from piano to Casiotone. With more
room to maneuver, Hunter runs rampant, but his solos have a tendency to sound as
if he is playing them simply to please himself. At the same time, he has lent
his guitar a muddier, more barbed tonality, and the end result is that Mistico unequivocally feels more in tune with rock than jazz. Even worse, it
is filled with songs that are in desperate need of a creative spark.
The epitome of Mistico’s problems arrives during the album’s fourth
track Balls. Here, Hunter essentially ruminates upon the Rolling Stones’
The Last Time, while Lott and Deutsch sound as if they are auditioning
for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Although the tune might receive huge cheers on the
festival circuit — one can just imagine a shirtless Lott raising his arms
triumphantly every time that he bangs a drum — it’s not the sort of inspired,
inventive statement that one would expect from someone of Hunter’s caliber.
For the record, the rest of Mistico fares moderately better. There are
some lovely moments tucked inside Estranged, and the title track embraces
its meditative pulse. Still, by swerving from swinging grooves (Lady!) to
’60s struts (Special Shirt) to driving funk (Speakers Built In)
without accomplishing much of anything, the trio frequently seems as if it is
more intent on conjuring moods than filling its songs with substance. Hunter is
too smart and too skilled a performer to be stuck in this rut forever, and with
any luck, Mistico will prove to be a temporary diversion rather than a
new direction.  ½
Mistico is available from Amazon.com.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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