He may not have studied in the same Berkeley High School jazz program that produced Joshua Redman and Benny Green (even though he went to school there), but guitarist Charlie Hunter has still made a definite mark on the music world. Playing a custom-built eight-string instrument that allows him to cover both bass and guitar parts -- when utilizing certain effects, it can also sound uncannily like a Hammond B-3 organ -- Hunter has developed the kind of unique virtuoso playing style that makes jaws drop. To his credit, he never sacrifices taste or musicality for the sake of his dazzling technique.

Hunter first came to fame as one of the musicians involved with Michael Franti's politically minded group the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. He moved on to become one of the leading lights of the new jazz revival that sprung up in San Francisco nightclubs during the early '90s. His trio dropped intense, groove-heavy tunes that made youthful audiences do something unheard of at traditional jazz clubs: dance. He has since led a number of different ensembles in addition to collaborating in groups like T.J. Kirk (an allstar band that plays the music of James Brown, Thelonius Monk and Rahsaan Roland Kirk), Garage-a-Trois, Mike Clark's Perscription Renewal and more.

Making his annual pilgrimage back to the Bay Area for the holidays (he moved to New York in 1997), Hunter is playing his usual run of shows at Yoshi’s in addition to a couple of highly-anticipated reunion concerts with T.J. Kirk. KTVU.com managed to track the busy guitarist down for this interview.

KTVU.com: There are elements of jazz and funk I hear in all of the music that you play; between the main group that you’re leading and all of these collaborative projects you get involved in, Garage a Trois and Mike Clark’s Perscription Renewal for instance, do you ever end up compartmentalizing the music? By that I mean do you ever think of it in terms of playing jazzier stuff with your group and hitting the funk end of the spectrum more with other groups?

Charlie Hunter: It really just depends on the group. It’s more about what a particular group is doing and it’s always different.

KTVU.com: So what every feels right with a specific collective is the direction it will take?

Charlie Hunter: Yeah. Exactly.

KTVU.com: I’ve seen you perform in a number of different settings, having been in college right around when you first came up with Michael Franti and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In fact, I remember a friend describing your duets with Franti as "Joe Pass jamming with Chuck D from Public Enemy." You’ve continued to work with rappers, having Mos Def guest on past albums; could you see yourself working in a pared-down duo situation like that with another rapper or maybe a vocalist?

KTVU.com: Sure. It would definitely have to be something really interesting, you know? If it’s the right person, why not?

KTVU.com: Has your affinity to funk music made the more into hip-hop collaborations sort of a natural progression for you from the kind of stuff you were already doing?

KTVU.com: I don’t know. I don't really kind of ghettoize it like that. I like a lot of different music and I've studied a lot of different music and I continue to [study music]. I just try to find a way to bring enough of a palette of information that I can use in different situations and use it appropriately for whatever situation I'm in. That's kind of how I look at it.

KTVU.com: Is there anybody in particular you're interested in working with or planning on working with?

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See Clips Of Charlie Hunter Playing Live

Charlie Hunter: Not really. I've got a really good band that I really like. And I'm playing with people I want to play with already in New York. I'm pretty lucky, you know?

KTVU.com: Your situation as far as jamming with people in New York is something else I wanted to bring up. I remember seeing you sit in with Ornette Coleman disciple Ronald Shannon Jackson and the group he was leading on drums at Kimball’s in San Francisco when it was still open; as outside as their music was, it was one of the bravest things I've ever seen a musician do. I imagine you have a lot of opportunities to sit in with people living in New York. Do you actually live in the city?

Charlie Hunter: I live right outside New York, in Jersey. But, as far as being a musician is concerned, it’s pretty much as good as living right there in the city.

KTVU.com: So do you find yourself just heading into town when you know there’s going to be someone there that you’re interested in playing with?

Charlie Hunter: Well, not really. Since I have the eight-string guitar and I have to have a bass amp and a guitar amp, its not quite that simple.

KTVU.com: You can’t just show up and sit in I guess…

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, it kind of ends up being a hassle that way.

KTVU.com: So, this most recent album came out on Ropadope Records; you’d been recording for Blue Note prior to that?

Charlie Hunter: Uh-huh.

KTVU.com: Was it just a matter of you contract running out with your last album for them? You fielded offers and ended up with Rope-a-Dope?

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, it just came to a point where it made sense. This was before Norah Jones sold all those records and kind of saved them. They were trying to get me to do my last record for half the budget that it was supposed to be and I was more interested in being with a smaller, more independent label for much less money than even that half of the budget. So I got them to release me.

KTVU.com: This latest album was with a full quintet, but now you’re touring with a trio. Was that switch just a matter of economics?

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, it was, because I couldn’t afford the quintet anymore. It was too much money to pay two extra guys: pay their salaries, get them from place to place, cover their hotel rooms. People have no idea what the overhead is like of taking a band out on the road, it’s just incredible. So I went to a trio, but it was the right thing to do. I’m really enjoying the trio format a lot right now. So it was kind of serendipitous.

KTVU.com: I guess this brings you full circle in a way, since you started as a leader with a trio back when you were playing with Jay Lane and Dave Ellis at the Elbo Room…

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, it’s the same instrumentation, but the music is so entirely different. I mean, I’m ten years older. I’ve matured a little bit. That’s a lot of water under the bridge and a lot of music under the bridge. So I have a lot more to say now than I did then.

KTVU.com: Since you grew up here, I’m sure you have a lot of friends and probably a lot of musician friends in town. Do a lot of people drop by during your Yoshi’s show to play with you?

Charlie Hunter: You know, not so far this week. If it happens it happens. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. You never know…

KTVU.com: You’re also going to be playing a couple of reunion shows with T.J. Kirk that have been a long time in coming. What was the impetus for making it happen? You haven’t played as a group since, what, 1996?

Charlie Hunter: It was early ’97. Well, [drummer] Scott Amendola was just tireless in trying to make it happen. And we just decided it could be fun to do it.

KTVU.com: And everyone else still lives here so …

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, they’re all here.

KTVU.com: Are you pretty much just going to revisit the material you did before with the band? Playing stuff from the two albums you recorded?

Charlie Hunter: I don’t know. We actually haven’t rehearsed yet. We sure haven’t had any time to write any new stuff…

KTVU.com: I was thinking maybe there were songs that you all knew well enough from one of those composers that you didn’t do back then…

Charlie Hunter: Right. We’ll just have to see what happens.

KTVU.com: The last thing I wanted to ask is a bit off the subject of music. I’m just curious about what, outside of visiting family and friends, is the best part thing about coming back to the Bay Area for the holidays?

Charlie Hunter: Ummmm…I don’t have to deal with shoveling snow? (laughs)

KTVU.com: I guess that stands to reason …

Charlie Hunter: Yeah. It’s nice to get out of there. Even though, let’s not kid ourselves; it really gets cold as hell here. It can penetrate your bones. But when the sun comes out, it’s pretty nice.