Charlie Hunter

After nearly 20 years of recording, it’s remarkable how much ground Charlie Hunter has covered. Rising out of the Bay Area jazz scene with a freakish virtuosity on a custom eight-string guitar that allowed him to play bass and melody lines simultaneously, Hunter performed at Lollapalooza in 1993 and released the first of six albums for Blue Note in 1995. Since then he’s recorded with musicians that include drummer Leon Parker, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and Norah Jones, who sang on two tracks for Hunter’s 2001 album “Songs From the Analog Playground.”

Often lumped in with the so-called “jam band” crowd after earning a following on the festival circuit, Hunter’s music isn’t so easy to pigeonhole. Having touched on elements of soul-jazz, reggae and boisterous funk-rock in the past, Hunter recently set aside electronics for a cleaner tone well-suited for a 2010 solo album of classic covers chosen by his 100-year-old grandfather aptly called “Public Domain.”