? The James Hunter Six - Minute by Minute (Concord/ Fantasy/ Universal Music) Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Constant touring has built The James Hunter Six into a formidable R&B band. If you've seen them live you know they have the James Brown/The "5" Royales thing down, circa 1960.
"Think" about it - they are essentially a North London pub band with unbelievable chops and a frontman who can pull the whole package together.
There's nothing nostalgic about what they're doing. The way Hunter kicks into the music it's all about the hear and now which just happens to be similar to what some other musicians were putting out a half century ago.
It seems the band spend so much time gigging they rarely have time to go into the studio to record. Minute by Minute is the follow-up to 2008's The Hard Way. Five years is a long time between releases when you're trying to keep a working band together but the wait was worth it. Everything cooks on this classic session of timeless soul featuring all new compositions from Hunter.
The album marks the first time Hunter has recorded sessions outside the U.K. and producer (Daptone Records' founder) Gabriel Roth has captured the kinetic power of the live band in the studio.
The punchy horn sound and overall analogue approach fits right in with Hunter's aesthetic. Roth earned a Grammy for his engineering on Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album and he's also the man working the boards behind Daptone's stellar roster of acts including Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the Budos Band and Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens. Turn it up.
