Charlie Hunter - Baboon Strength

I recently heard parts of Charlie Hunter's new album, Baboon Strength. It's alright! Definitely funky. I like that he's consciously trying not to overplay. If you joing his mailing list, you get a get a free MP3 of the Charlie Hunter Quartet performing Bob Marley's "Talkin' Blues", which also appears on Hunter's 1997 album Natty Dread.

1997 - that was the year when Charlie made his move to NYC and the Bay Area jazz scene lost one of its marquis players -- kind of like when Shaq left the Magic for the Lakers. Anyway, Charlie comes back to play here often. Right now, he's on tour with the personnel from Baboon Strength, Eric Deutsch on keys and Tony Mason on drums. They just finished a run at Yoshi's in December '08. Hunter's next gig in the Bay will be at Cafe Du Nord for Scott Amandola's Birthday Bash on February 6, 2009.

New York Jazz

I visited New York City over the holiday. It was bitter cold, but I had fun riding the subway around Manhattan and Brooklyn. New York is a huge city (and the music scene there is equally big), but something about the place reminds me of San Francisco. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hear much music on this trip.

Over the years, a few notable Bay Area jazz musicians have relocated to New York. Maybe it doesn't qualify as a trend, but I first started noticing it back in 1997, when Charlie Hunter moved to Brooklyn. Since then, it seems that other folks have pulled up stakes and gone East, like Jim Campilongo (in 2002) and Dred Scott. I can see the allure of New York -- there's a palpable energy there that you don't really find other places. Anyway, it'd be cool if someday they all moved back to S.F. and started a revival, circa 1993.

In other New York jazz news: Have you heard of Cleve Douglas? After a decade and a half of tours in Japan, Cleve is returning officially to the New York night club scene. Check it out: http://www.clevedouglass.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/clevejazz