The Gerry Hundt Trio – Get Hip! – Steady Groove Music (no label #)

It is very rarely that I propose a contemporary blues collection as one that is “essential,” worth of standing toe-to-toe with those that have offered to blues fans everywhere those recordings that best represent the genre and will continue to do so for all time.

Blues collections I believe to be “essential” must bring to the table a style and uniqueness that, despite the era in which they were created, is lasting and forever a living expression of the artist and the times when the music was made.  That is why so many of my “essential” blues collections originated no later than the 1970s, as to bring something to the table going forward from there has to exhibit a tremendous exceptionality for me to believe that it is significantly positioned as one of the-best-of-the-best of all-time.

Such as it is with The Gerry Hundt Trio’s Get Hip!.  It is just that good, and it represents an artist and his contemporaries completely devoted to the blues and at the height of their individual and collective broad proficiencies.  So, yes, a 2024 recording as an “essential” blues document is indeed an actuality to me with Get Hip!.

It is with great excitement when I find Facebook posts from bluesman extraordinaire Gerry Hundt, as the lion’s share of them find him entertaining in his one-man band set-up, playing tremendous guitar, singing with conviction, blowing wholly complementary harmonica, and maybe even affording himself a rock-solid rhythmic beat with a foot-pedal percussion device.  Additionally, Hundt regularly posts clips from both domestic and overseas tour shows, with the ones from foreign performances highlighting his abundant musical proficiencies with foreign blues groups.  For many years now I have been extremely enthralled with Hundt’s commitment to the blues, and find myself elated to witness how he has become even more skilled over time.

Obviously, I am an blatant fan of Hundt and his musical capacities, inspiration, and what seems to be his boundless dynamism, as in any given month you may behold him plying his trade at a local weekend outdoor market, playing a brunch at one of Chicago’s celebrated north side blues and BBQ establishments, busking open-air outside a major Chicago music site like The Salt Shed, or roving regionally to inns, eateries, and breweries all through the upper Midwest phenomenally executing in his one-man band format.  Or, he may be traveling the U.S.’s highways with the band who since 2022 has issued two of the best fully-realized blues outings in a long time, The Dig 3.  Possibly, Hundt will be taking flight over the Atlantic Ocean to tour in various European locations where his fan base and musical reputation is constantly on the upturn.  Even still, he could be south of the border in Mexico.  Or maybe, The Gerry Hundt Trio will be astounding blues enthusiasts at some vibrant overseas blues outpost, or regionally in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin. 

I have been eavesdropping on Hundt’s musical goings-on all the way back to his 2002 release, Mason & Hundt (Naked Jaybird Music njbm-002) when he pursued his remarkable harmonica dexterities with those of guitarist John-Alex Mason.  Years back, when Hundt happened through my home base of Mishawaka, Indiana as a vital member of Nick Moss And The Flip Tops, I took witness to his amazing on-stage adaptability as he played formidable bass, exciting harmonica, entrancing mandolin, and rousing guitar, plus also adeptly sang.  Hundt was highly contributory on the band’s 2007 Blue Bella Records release entitled Play It ‘Til Tomorrow (Blue Bella Records BB 1008).

And, when Hundt’s 2007 Since Way Back outing was released on Blue Bella Records (BBCD 1009), my fortune as a forever devotee was sealed vis-à-vis his discerning and comprehensive musical knowhows and veneration for the blues.

If that weren’t adequate still, Hundt’s collection entitled Gerry Hundt’s Legendary One-Man Band on the SteadyGroove Music label (SteadyGroove Music-003) only reinforced my high admiration for his ever-evolving skill set and recording expertise.

And Hundt’s work with The Dig 3, whose self-titled debut collection and Damn The Rent outings were two of the finest works of the past five years, indicates his blues wizardry and stature as both a purveyor of older times music, and the personification of a multi-faceted contemporary artist.  His flexibility rightfully speaks as someone who is equally at home in the role as a full bandleader or supplementing sideman, in configurations varying from full-size groups all the way down to duos.

On Get Hip!, The Gerry Hundt Trio, with Hundt astonishing with his strong capabilities on vocals, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica, Tom Lehnert framing and shaping all of the triad’s musical visions with firm percussion expertise on drums, and Daniel Fastro enveloping the proceedings with his low-end adeptness on bass, has delivered a document of superlative blues and related musical genres.  Inspiring musicmaking unfurled!

Luxembourg was where this outstanding collection was recorded “live,” and without itemizing the raised merits of each tune, rest assured that in a music world where what passes for blues today is often represented by endless guitar excursions stuffing countless embellishments into a stanza as if the players were paid by the note, where amps are turned up to their ear-splitting highest, with vocalists who do not sing and tell a story but rather often seem unnecessarily on the cusp of hysteria, splendidly, and as testimony to Hundt’s melodic musing, each song here is led to a nonpareil plateau of taste, idyllic musical interplay, and an exceedingly harmonious end. 

Whether an original or a choice cover, The Gerry Hundt Trio respects the musicmaking, infusing it with abundant high-tier qualities, but moreover, seem striving to allot a substantial experience for their listening audience.  My god, music creation on this level is to be roundly applauded!  Many would be wise to study this musical assemblage as a textbook on how to envision and realize a recording plan.

It’s difficult sometimes, really hard, to stay professional and open-minded with the number of collections that slide across my desk for review.  Some are the “same old, same old,” some loudly batter my senses with overloaded volume and poor execution, and others, well, they are just bad for innumerable justifications.

A heartfelt bravo to The Gerry Hundt Trio for the exemplary achievement that is this 11-cut CD!  This reviewer needs to make shelf space for this CD so it may permanently inhabit a sliver of wood in my collection.  Only the great stuff populates those shelves, and Get Hip! Is in that exalted air.

Hundt is still a reasonably young man; what will he do next?  It will be a pleasure to observe Hundt’s highly encouraging musical career continue to unfold.

Support Hundt and his auditory designs by doing whatever you can to pick this one up.  It is that grand!

Essential!  Period!