Details
Track Listing
1. Lively up Yourself
2. No Woman, No Cry
3. Them Belly Full
4. Rebel Music
5. So Jah Seh
6. Natty Dread
7. Bend Down Low
8. Talkin' Blues
9. Revolution
| Details | | Producer: | Lee Townsend | | Distributor: | EMI Music Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
On NATTY DREAD, the Charlie Hunter Quartet covers the Bob Marley & The Wailers album of the same title in its entirety.
Charlie Hunter Quartet: Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar); Calder Spanier (alto saxophone); Kenny Brooks (tenor saxophone); Scott Amendola (drums).
Recorded at Mobius Music, San Francisco, California. Includes liner notes by Dan Ouellette.
The is part of the Blue Note Cover series.
For a lesser artist than 8-string guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter (who simultaneously plays lead and bass lines on his instrument) to attempt to cover an entire Bob Marley album song-for-song--in a jazz context, no less--would at best be embarrassing, at worst suicide. But in Hunter's hands NATTY DREAD becomes both a reverent homage to Marley and a highly accessible musical revelation in its own right.
Hunter and his adventurous quartet organically reshape each track in a way that maintains the original's spirit while completely redefining it. So "Lively Up Yourself" becomes a shuffling soul-jazz shout-along, while Hunter's unaccompanied guitar virtually weeps beneath his sublime ornamentation on "No Woman, No Cry." "Them Belly Full" appears as a hungry bossa nova, and "Rebel Music" soaks in a riotous Hammond B3 organ sound courtesy of Hunter's electronically manipulated guitar. With NATTY DREAD's nod to the venerable past, Charlie Hunter clearly points listeners toward a brighter jazz future.
Industry Reviews
3 stars (out of 5) - ...Hunter's quartet applies a variety of rhythms to Marley's compositions....[he] generally views the material through the prism of contemporary soul- or acid-jazz...
Down Beat (06/01/1997)
...Hunter is one of the most consistent of the younger soul-jazzers, and he delivers again here...
JazzTimes (04/01/1997)
3 Stars (out of 5) - ...Marley fans will love or loathe Hunter's daring, but this is inventive enough to sidestep moans.
Q (05/01/1997)
...replaces the taut reggae of the Wailers with small-band hipster swing... - Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly (04/04/1997)
...the Charlie Hunter Quartet...succeeds with such soul-stirring impact that Robert Nesta Marley himself would likely give an imperious 'Jah Rastafari' shout-out if he heard this beautifully bluesy scrimshaw of NATTY DREAD...
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