The Fat Hunter

The James Hunter Six - Hold On! (2016) {Daptone Records DAP-040}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 126 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 74 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar | Mono
© 2016 Daptone Records | DAP-040
Rhythm & Blues / Retro-Soul / Soul-Blues

Hold On! is the fourth album by the rocking soul man James Hunter and his stalwart sextet. Daptone's Gabriel Roth produced the excellent Minute by Minute in 2013, but this is the band's debut for the label. Hold On! was recorded live in the studio, but Roth and Hunter decided on mono to best capture the immediacy of the performances. The songwriter has recorded only original material since 2006, and these ten tracks are no exception. What separates this date from previous outings – excellent though they all were – isn't the mono production, but the diversity in songwriting, rhythmic invention, and arranging. "This Is Where We Came In" may contain a simmering organ, but doo wop-esque backing vocals from Gregory Lee, Alex Desert, and Malik Moore elevate it (and the two other cuts they appear on) beyond the early pop-soul framework that it comes adorned in. So do the cha-cha rhythms, rhumba fills, and comps from Andrew Kingslow's piano.

Charlie Hunter, former member of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, serves notice that he will be a major player in the modern jazz scene in the '90s and beyond. Les Claypool, on Claypool's own Prawn Song label, recorded this, Hunter's first album as a leader. On this initial solo effort, Hunter masterfully plays the seven-string guitar (two bass strings, five guitar strings), and is joined by David Ellis (tenor sax) and Jay Lane (drums), who is himself a former member of Claypool's band, Primus. The trio provides an interesting, yet accessible, groove-driven, funky, improvised jam for a new generation of jazz fans. The Hunter gospel is spoken from the outset with "Fred's Life," a quick, groove-laden track that is highlighted by the horn work of Ellis.