Steve Hunter's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Steve Hunter is a virtuoso electric bassist, bandleader and prolific composer with over one hundred of his compositions released, both on his own albums and those of many other artists. He’s played and/or recorded with many of Australia’s great musicians in addition to establishing an international reputation, having played with the likes of Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Mark Isham and Ulf Wakenius amongst others. He’s also toured many times in various Asian countries both as a leader and sideman, and appears on albums by several of Asia’s leading jazz musicians. In addition to the Steve Hunter Band, Steve is also playing regularly with several other groups including The Translators, The Subterraneans and the Kim Lawson Trio, all of whom have newly recorded albums that feature his compositions.

1. PACO DE LUCIA AND BAND – Granada Bullring Spain 2004

I think the most inspiring gig I’ve ever seen was a concert by Paco de Lucia and his band at the Granada bullring in Spain in 2004. I was aware that I was seeing and hearing a truly great artist at work, a musician of the same kind of importance as Miles Davis or Duke Ellington. I had a lump in my throat through the whole gig. The music was absolutely beautiful and devastating. It was also great to see ‘the real deal’ performing in front of so many people; not just to aficionados, but to twenty thousand or so real people. The bullring also probably contributed to the vibe; like a huge concert in the round with the warm Andalucian night sky above. (It’s got to be a far better way to use a bullring than the slaughter of animals as entertainment.)

2. JEFF BECK WITH THE JAN HAMMER GROUP - Hordern Pavilion Sydney 1976

In 1976 at age 16 I went to see Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer group at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. I had Beck’s ‘Blow By Blow’ album and loved it, but Jan Hammer was new to me and I was blown away by him and his band. I’d been playing bass for around a year at that time and went home after the gig and played all night long; buzzing and inspired by the music and how the bass player Fernando Saunders played. After that concert I went in search of Jan Hammer’s music, which opened up the whole world of jazz and its offshoots to me. Through seeing Jan Hammer that night, I discovered all the great musicians that are lasting inspirations; Miles Davis, Weather Report, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams for example.

3. JOHN SCOFIELD TRIO – King George Tavern Sydney 1982

Another inspiring gig was the John Scofield Trio in 1982 at the King George Tavern in Sydney. Sco’s trio had Steve Swallow on bass and Adam Nussbaum on drums. I already owned a couple of their albums, so I knew what their slant was and liked it a lot. It was an especially inspiring gig for me as a young electric bassist interested in jazz and improvisation, because Steve Swallow really is the father of electric bass played in those contexts. It was great to sit just a few yards in front of him all night and, again, I recall going home afterwards and playing my bass through the night, trying out some of the things I’d seen Steve doing just a few hours before. Swallow turns seventy years old this year and is still going strong. He’s a real inspiration to me; an artful electric bassist and an excellent composer with a long life in music and a large high quality body of work.

4. MARK SIMMONDS FREEBOPPERS – Sydney 1987

In the thirty-five years I’ve been going out to hear music there have been tons of great gigs, but those three previously mentioned had a very perceptible and immediate impact. In my own thirty plus years as a player, composer and bandleader there have been a lot of great gigs too. One that comes to mind that had that bit extra was a gig at The Basement in 1987 as a member of Mark Simmonds ‘Freeboppers’ where Mark’s compositional ideas and concepts all worked incredibly well. Coupled with each of the players being ‘on’ that night, the band just grew wings and flew through the roof.

5. STEVE HUNTER BAND – Sydney 2006

Another gig where that happened was with my band at the Excelsior Hotel in Sydney in 2006 with what had been my regular line up for several years; James Muller on guitar, Matt McMahon on keyboards, James Hauptmann on drums and myself. Again, the music took off in a way that was magic and somehow better than the other hundred or so gigs we’d played.