2005-2006 Recording Artist-in-Residence Charlie Hunter

"At any given Charlie Hunter show, newcomers are easily spotted. They are the ones looking around the room for the bass player, or maybe the keyboard player, or both! What they soon realize is that all of these sounds are coming from one man and his eight-string guitar....."

Center Theatre, Performing Arts Bulding
Ukiah Campus

Tickets: $15 general admission:

Guitarist Charlie Hunter, on the cover of this month’s Downbeat magazine, is the Recording Artist-in-Residence at Mendocino College this semester. He will be lecturing in a number of music classes and giving a concert on Friday, February 3, at 8 PM, in the College’s Performing Arts’ Center Theatre in Ukiah.

Hunter, who plays a custom eight-string guitar, has released twelve albums over the last ten years and has been described as “one of the world's most original guitarists and one of jazz's most prolific and popular figures. In an age where pundits like to proclaim "Jazz is Dead" Charlie has reinvigorated the genre by attracting legions of devoted young fans that follow his every move.”

“Right now, Charlie is hot, extremely busy, and we are lucky to have him as a guest artist at Mendocino College,” exclaims Steve Oliveria, coordinator of the Recording Artist-in-Residence program and performances. “Our program is now in it’s seventh year and allows students to meet and talk with professional musicians. Students really appreciate the chance to ask about creating music, building a career and the details behind becoming a successful artist. The concerts are a unique opportunity for everyone to hear top musicians that normally might not perform in Ukiah.”

Hunter picked up his first guitar when he was twelve years old and a few years later was taking lessons from Joe Satriani. In 1993, he hooked up with poet/rapper Michael Franti’s Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy on their tour that included a year's worth of huge stadium gigs opening for U2 along with Primus.

Since then he has pursued jazz, touring Europe and the US, forming a number of bands and playing with a wide range of musicians.

“I am very proud of the fact that our audience is very diverse. There are a lot of women who come to our shows. There are a lot of kids-I mean teens and young adults-who bring their parents. And there are a lot of moms and dads who bring their kids, and that makes me feel like we're doing something right."

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."

Hunter will be a guest lecturer at the college, January 30-February 3, in a number of music classes: Music 040 Jazz Band, Music 111 Recording Studio Techniques I, Music 115 Recording Studio Laboratory, Music 200 Fundamentals of Music, Music 201 Music Theory, Music 202 Music Theory/Harmony II, MUS 204 Music History, Music 207 Introduction to Music Appreciation, Music 222 Guitar, and Music 230 Beginning Voice.

Tickets are $15 general admission and are available in Ukiah at Ukiah Music Center, Dig Music, and Mendocino Book Co. and at Leaves of Grass Bookstore in Willits.

A complete listing of college activities is online at www.mendocino.edu # # # #