‘Some of today’s music not musical’ – Clive Hunt

In the music business, the name Clive Hunt carries its weight in gold and platinum and the super producer, while offering constructive criticism, is eager to share his wealth of knowledge and experience with all those who want to learn. A multi-instrumentalist, Hunt has played a pivotal role in influencing the music, and his longevity is not taken for granted, neither by himself nor his peers.

“I am one of the few persons who has been doing music from the days of the Skatalites to current artistes such as Chronixx. I am feeling blessed to have worked with all the great artistes from that time, and am still being called on by the new generation,” Hunt shared with The Gleaner. “I was listening to radio recently and the on-air jock played three songs from Etana’s I Rise album and I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the songs sounded,” he added. Hunt, who worked closely on that particular project, said it was normal for him to produce records, forget all about them, and then be jolted when he hears them out of the blue.

Not feeling today’s music

Known for his love of live tracks – no bathroom studio for him – and a great ear for music, the hands-on producer is just not feeling some of the nowadays offerings. “The new form of music is not musical. It sounds as if they just went into a dark room and feel-feel around until they come up with something. At the end of the day, it’s just pure luck. Music is much more than that. What I would like is for these youngsters to emulate me,” he said with quite a bit of humility. But Hunt, who has had his personal challenges, emphasised, “Use me as an example creatively only.”

He is advising producers to get intimate with the music. “It helps so much when you actually know music. For example, I know what instruments to put together to give me a particular sound, or when to use a flute to enhance a production,” said Hunt, who was one of the top session players in Jamaica as well as a trumpeter in the Jamaica Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Hunt’s musical journey actually started out with his doing tailoring at the Stony Hill Approved School, where his talent was spotted by the music teacher there. Decades later, he is being called for guest lectures at the island’s top music institute, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. He continues to enjoy an illustrious career which has seen him work with artistes such as Dennis Brown, Carl Dawkins, Max Romeo, The Abyssinians, The Skatalites, Bob Andy, Chalice, Tyrone Taylor, the I-Three, Yvad, Richie Spice and Garnett Silk. According to his bio, Hunt’s reputation grew and he worked on the internationally successful I Can See Clearly Now for Jimmy Cliff, the Steely And Clevie remake of You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No) for Dawn Penn, and was employed by veteran rockers the Rolling Stones.

Hunt also produced a number of singles with Beres Hammond, including favourite, Putting Up Resistance and, more recently, Call to Duty, which drops today on VP Records, another entity with which he has had a long association.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com