Charlie Hunter Trio

Tuesday, December 9 and Wednesday, December 10

Simply put, Charlie Hunter is the most talented instrumentalist you’ve never heard of. Don’t let the title of “jazz guitarist” — an incredibly limiting moniker given Hunter’s vast musical influences and seven-string hybrid guitar — fool you into thinking that this will be a mid-tempo evening of familiar standards. Hunter was more than capable of holding his own at 2007’s seminal Crossroads Festival alongside the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan, Carlos Santana and John Mayer, to name a few. What sets Hunter apart from even these giants, however, is his propensity for engulfing a myriad of sounds, starting with cool blue standards and reaching all the way to funk and fusion-laced original compositions. In support of his new album, Baboon Strength, The Charlie Hunter trio will feature Erik Deutsch, a prodigy of the infamous Colorado University Jazz program (and the only keyboardist ever to work in Hunter’s band) and drummer Tony Mason, who is best known for his work with Norah Jones.

Tue., Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m., 2008