Charlie Hunter – Solo Inventions

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Concert: B-

 

 

Charlie Hunter has another DVD out minus his Quintet, in the aptly titled Solo Inventions, taped in 2004.  Using an 8-string guitar, Hunter delivers the following songs:

 

1)     11 Bars For Gandhi

2)     8 String Guitar Jam

3)     My Heart Belongs To Daddy

4)     Starts Fell on Alabama

5)     Oakland

6)     ballad (unknown/untitled)

7)     Quantity Of Life Jam

8)     Lulu’s Crawl

 

 

This does not repeat his few solos from the last DVD and he does interview pieces between some of the performances and discusses the challenges of the 8-string.  Because of no tel-op interruptions, this show plays much more smoothly than it predecessor, both proving that he is one of the unique musician talents of the time.  If I had to choose which disc to begin with, I would say this one for its directness and simplicity.  He is very well spoken and its too bad there is not more of his insight.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is from a video source that is colorful, but lacks detail.  It is almost on par with the anamorphically enhanced image from The Charlie Hunter Quintet – Right Now Live reviewed elsewhere on this site.  The sound is available only in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds and sounds good, though the Dolby 5.1 AC-3 mix on Right Now Live may have been a tad more detailed.  Too bad this was not in DTS, as this concert could have benefited from it.  There are no extras like that other program, sadly, but it is a good follow-up project worth catching if this is your kind of music.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo