Charlie Hunter Trio
Bhi Bhiman

Instrumentation | Charlie Hunter ~ Guitar/Bass,  Erik Deutsch ~ Keys/Organ, Tony Mason ~ Drums

Hunter is constantly touring and trying to grow musically, and spiritually. "I mean I don't want to get all hippy-dippy, but the goal is to reach the spiritual center of whatever music you're searching for. In that search, for me, it's real important to bring in other people and to have it be a real honest scene in which the audience is also part of the music. I know it's a good show depending on how the crowd is getting into the music. I can feel it when they get the groove, and we play off that." But Charlie is also playing music for himself. "I feel a real urgency in life and that's reflected in my music. It's my only creative outlet. It's the only avenue I have to scream about my life and what's happening in other people's world. It's my fail-safe antidote to the world."

It is a mission for Hunter to spread his music, but it is also a mission for him to turn others onto music of the past who might not be exposed to it anywhere else. "For some kids, this is their first exposure to jazz. They see how cool the music is and become intrigued enough to want to check out records by Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. If our mission succeeds, hopefully we'll have helped to turn a generation of people onto a much more spiritually and soulfully executed music than what gets played on MTV," says an optimistic Hunter. "It's culturally the duty of the younger generation to help the music evolve. We wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't."