photo by Salvador Castro
A conventional bio of Hunt Sales would start by noting his famous associations, recounting his much-revered work as a sideman for Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. It would trumpet the fact that he’s long been considered one of the world’s greatest drummers, a secret weapon deployed in the service of rock royalty. In a career that began when he was teen in the mid-’60s, Sales has seen and done it all. Beyond his impressive rock ’n’ roll c.v. he’s played blues for the legendary Lowell Fulson, recorded with funk master Bootsy Collins, jammed out with Tex-Mex all-stars Los Super Seven, devoted himself to mastering organ trio music and Dixieland jazz, and served up songs across the spectrum for film and TV. If there’s a professional or creative path to explore, Sales has traveled it. Though he’s spent his career as a sideman to the stars, his new album, Get Your Shit Together, finds Sales revealing his profound gifts as a songwriter and vocalist. “Whatever I brought to Iggy, whatever I brought to Bowie, whatever I brought to Todd Rundgren … now I’m bringing that to myself, to my own work,” he says. “Look at other drummers — Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones — they all worked with great people, but then they got to a point in their lives where they did their own thing. Basically, they all had to reinvent themselves and start their own bands. So that’s what I had to do.”
We let Hunt Sales do what he had to do in Studio 1A this past week and our ears are still ringing. Listen to session in the player at the bottom of the post and then get to his show at Antone’s
Host: Jody Denberg
Producer: Deidre Gott
Engineers: Cliff Hargrove & Jake Perlman
