Songs from the Analog Playground

1	Street Sounds / Mos Def 2:32
2	Rhythm Music Rides Again 5:58
3	Mighty Mighty / Theyrl De'Clouet 3:50
4	Mitch Better Have My Bunny 6:11
5	More Than This / Norah Jones 4:10
6	Desert Way 6:01
7	Run for It 7:54
8	Spoonful / Theryl DeClouet 5:06
9	Close Your Eyes 1:37
10	Percussion Shuffle 5:48
11	Creole / Mos Def 5:42
12	Sunday Morning 1:17
13	Day Is Done / Norah Jones 4:36

Barnes & Noble

Charlie Hunter, the master of the eight-string guitar, gets a lot of first class assistance on this eclectic album. While there’s plenty of jazz funk instrumentals that showcase Hunter’s rhythmic finesse and enthralling tone, there’s also a number of smart vocal performances that add variety and flair to the album. Kurt Elling takes over for “Desert Way” and the standard, “Close Your Eyes.” Rapper Mos Def weighs in on “Street Sounds” and “Creole,” while New Orleans R&B man Theryl Clouet transforms Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” and “Mighty Mighty” (not the Curtis Mayfield song.) The slinky-voiced singer Norah Jones does a beautiful job with both Roxy Music’s “More Than This” and Nick Drake's “Day Is Done." The addition of these formidable vocalists,the interesting choice of covers, and the space that Hunter affords his sparkling saxophonist John Ellis and groove-aceous percussionists Chris Lovejoy and Stephen Chopek, lend this project a scintillating sheen. William Pearl

Barnes & Noble

Charlie Hunter, the master of the eight-string guitar, gets a lot of first-class assistance on this eclectic album. While there are plenty of jazz-funk instrumentals that showcase Hunter’s rhythmic finesse and enthralling tone, there are also a number of smart vocal performances that add variety and flair to the album. Kurt Elling takes over for “Desert Way” and the standard “Close Your Eyes”; Rapper Mos Def weighs in on “Street Sounds” and “Creole”; New Orleans R&B man Theryl Clouet transforms Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” and “Mighty Mighty” (not the Curtis Mayfield song); and the slinky-voiced singer Norah Jones does a beautiful job with Roxy Music’s “More than This” and Nick Drake's “Day Is Done.”The addition of these formidable vocalists, the interesting choice of covers, and the space that Hunter affords his sparkling saxophonist John Ellis and his groove-aceous percussionists Chris Lovejoy and Stephen Chopek, lend this project a scintillating sheen.--William Pearl

All Music Guide

Charlie Hunter's seventh Blue Note release is the first to feature vocalists -- Theryl De'Clouet, Kurt Elling, Norah Jones, and rapper Mos Def -- who appear in rotating guest spots. Five of the 13 tracks are instrumental originals. Some meander in a typical jam band way, but they're guided by an economical, live-quartet sound and driven by Hunter's highly intriguing eight-string guitar work. The short solo guitar piece "Sunday Morning" is a tease, but also a gem. De'Clouet's gravelly, soulful voice fits nicely on Earth, Wind & Fire's "Mighty, Mighty" and the Willie Dixon blues classic "Spoonful"; his control of harmonic overtones on the latter is astounding. Labelmate Norah Jones lends her breezy, laid-back vibe to Roxy Music's "More Than This" and Nick Drake's "Day Is Done." Mos Def kibbitzes on the opening "Street Sounds" and turns in a respectable singing performance on the sultry, minor-key "Creole." Kurt Elling, also a labelmate, is impeccably smooth on a percussion/vocal interpretation of "Close Your Eyes," a standard that served as the title track of the singer's Blue Note release of 1995. Elling also sings and does spoken word on "Desert Way" (co-written with Hunter), helping to distinguish it as the most ambitious track on the disc. Hunter's fiercely eclectic tastes have been evident on previous releases, but the presence of the vocalists enables him to establish connections and tell stories he never has before. David R. Adler