Van Hunt’s “Dust” revealed his skills as a performer and a songwriter on his 2004 debut album. He had spent the ’90s building his repetoire as a songwriter working with Rahsaan Patterson, Dionne Farris, Joi and Cree Summer. The public first saw him onstage but would later learn of his past songwriting credits and also discover that he wrote the album with some input from saxophonist and fellow writer Curtis Whitehead. The critics’ first impressions of Van Hunt’s falsetto got him quickly compared to Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Prince. The dark lyrics of “Dust” about losing oneself also had a precedent in those comparison artists. But “Dust” still had some optimism expressed in the happier rock guitar chords. The lyrics claiming insanity were sung with a lightness that acknowledged the hurt but ultimately moved away and let the band play into a sophisticated ruckus. “Dust” was the only rock song keeping company with Hunt’s mostly soul tracklisting and it received a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative performance. His first album was lumped into the neo-soul catch phrase but Van Hunt’s music was more complex than filler for an incense and headwrap cliche’. Nineteen years, four albums and five EPs later Van Hunt’s first album still dazzles most who hear it. Halle Berry, who has dated Van Hunt since 2020,  paid tribute to him at the 27th Critics Choice Awards.

Van Hunt takes The Commodores’ 1977 classic “Zoom” and brings it into 2021. Lionel Richie’s original band released “Zoom” as a song included on their fifth self-titled album but not as a single. In Van Hunt’s hands “Zoom” becomes the transcendent “(zÅ«m).” He captures the same longing for a better and happier world that The Commodores were singing about 44 years ago. His arrangement is true to the original but he infuses it with his own personal intensity. The lyrics today could easily be a reference to the pandemic angst and by the end of the song it feels like anxiety put to rest.  There is no word yet on the Van Hunt’s follow-up to Van Hunt’s 2017 album Popular. 

 

Roy Ayers, Robert Glasper, Van Hunt, Phony Ppl, Meshell Ndgeocello and more will all perform at the BRIC Jazzfest 2021 a three-day event from April 8th to April 10th. Keanna Faricloth of WBGO, will host the event that will be streamed from BRIC House in Brooklyn. There are single and three-day passes available for the event at the official website. 

Twenty-three years ago Van Hunt saw his first song “Hopeless” get recorded by Dionne Farris and be released into the world. Farris’s interpretation matched and helped define the bohemian romance that took place in the film Love Jones. “Hopeless” is one of the reasons for the soundtrack’s appeal that is just as strong as the movie’s cult following. Van Hunt decided to record his version and he adds a different phrasing of the lyrics and fresh layers of instrumentation like new guitar sounds.  The video for Van Hunt’s recording of “Hopeless” combines footage of him having fun at home and recent photos.