Huntertones

Welcome to the Vermont Jazz Center and thank you for joining us. Huntertones is an exciting, funk-oriented jazz band that has been touring and recording together for almost 15 years. The six members met while attending the jazz studies program at Ohio State University. They formed a group outside of the general curriculum and quickly became the house band for a series of parties they held at their apartment on Hunter Avenue (hence the name – Huntertones). After moving to Brooklyn (to touch the hem of Snarky Puppy), they hit their stride and have been increasing in popularity and garnering critical acclaim. 

Huntertones are a true band. Their non-stop touring, their dedication to staying together as a group, and the way they bring people together through the arts and music education is truly inspiring. To date, Huntertones have traveled to over 25 countries and collaborated with musicians from South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe as part of a State Department Jazz Ambassadors program. The sextet has also toured the world on their own, performing at SF Jazz, the Blue Note clubs in Milan, Tokyo and Shanghai, and numerous festivals, including the Newport Jazz Fest. Huntertones have performed with Jon Batiste on Steven Colbert’s Tonight Show, and their three-member frontline horn section has toured with Lake Street Dive, Ricky Martin, Cory Wong and Snarky Puppy. The entire band frequently collaborates with guest artists such as Lionel Loueke, Rachel Price, Akie Bermiss, Louis Cato and Kurt Elling.

One of the bonding forces of the group is their connection to funk music. It’s significant to note that five of the six members are from Ohio, a state that music aficionados proudly consider “the Mecca of funk.” The members of Huntertones grew up immersed in the sounds of funk’s seminal groups like the Ohio Players, Slave, the Isley Brothers and Zapp. Their tight rhythm section takes this lineage seriously, but they also look to the danceable grooves of Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown and Prince, Snarky Puppy and Roy Hargrove for inspiration. The pitch-perfect sound of their three-horn front line is reminiscent of super-groups like Chicago and Steely Dan. But when trumpeter Jon Lampley switches from trumpet to sousaphone, their funk ventures in the direction of New Orleans Street music. Maybe that’s why Jon Batiste loves them so much, saying that their music is “Honest, genuine, skillfully executed [and] uplifting.”

Despite the clear influences of funk, it’s still easy to perceive Huntertones’ deep connection to the jazz legacy. Elements of their compositions can be traced back to Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and gospel legend, James Cleveland. Their varied sets embrace funk, gospel, hard bop and straight-ahead jazz, but they also enjoy cleverly arranged mashups of surprising pop tunes from the songbooks of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Queen. 

Along with their connection to funk and jazz, Huntertones often speak of the inspiration they receive when working with musicians from other countries. They feel privileged to have shared meals and created music with the new friends they’ve met on tour who have shed light on both musical and cultural perspectives. One of the exciting characteristics of the band’s sound is that they embrace the inclusion of rhythms, styles and timbres that they’ve learned on their travels. When recalling a 10-day tour to Togo, West Africa, saxophonist Dan White said that the band was transformed through the experience of witnessing the inseparable connection that exists between music and dance in African culture. “We would jam together every day sharing ideas with each other, playing over the traditional Agbadja rhythms… but the biggest thing [we experienced] was the humanity of making music together. Music was our lifeline and the way that we connected with other people.”