In choosing to record
Bob Marley's classic 1974 reggae album
Natty Dread track-for-track in an instrumental jazz style, eight-string guitarist
Charlie Hunter opened himself up for skepticism. Yet an idea that looked questionable in theory would prove stellar in practice, as
Hunter turned
Natty Dread -- with the songs sequenced exactly as they were on
Marley's original release -- into one of the best CDs of his career.
Hunter's customized eight-string instrument and prodigious talent allow him to play simultaneous guitar melodies and basslines, but his Wurlitzer organ simulations and walking bass aren't the only highlights of the opening "Lively Up Yourself." Alto saxophonist
Calder Spanier and tenorman
Kenny Brooks alternate between swinging leads and supportive harmonies, and drummer
Scott Amendola gets in creative solo flurries near the end.
Hunter's beautiful intro to "No Woman, No Cry" echoes both
Pat Martino and
Django Reinhardt; the saxophonists' interplay and
Amendola's clever rimshots, tom-toms, and cowbell work lively up "Them Belly Full." The secrets to
Hunter's success lie in separate amplifiers for his instrument's guitar and bass portions; great wah-wah pedal work to achieve keyboard tones, and the requisite brain power to play basslines with both thumbs while fretting and fingerpicking the melodies. All are illustrated in readings of the tranquil "Rebel Music," energetic "So Jah Seh" and the shuffling title track. Throughout
Natty Dread, reggae is implied more often than played, as
Hunter and his quartet portray the fun they had in arranging these pieces with performances both swinging and stirring (even dropping an "I Shot the Sheriff" quote into "Bend Down Low").
Spanier died after
Natty Dread's release when he was struck by a car, and
Hunter subsequently moved from California to New York and restructured his band. There's no telling what might have come afterward from this quartet of two saxophonists, a drummer, and
Hunter, the one-man guitarist, keyboardist, and bassist. ~ Bill Meredith