TRANSMISSION from Huntertones is an outstanding funk horn-driven album that hits all the right notes. I always love horn front-and-center bands, and Huntertones delivers 10 excellent tracks on this release, including two guest vocal covers from Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive) and Kurt Elling.
The band formed in 2010 at Ohio State University in Columbus and was named for the street, Hunter Avenue, where they first played music together at underground concerts at an apartment because they were too young to play in standard 21-and-older local venues. I’ve caught them live just once back in 2022 a local festival in Roswell, GA and was hooked (watch Huntertones live at Beaucoup Jazz & Blues Festival). I also saw the horn section back Lake Street Dive at Newport Jazz Festival 2026.
Transmission is their 5th album and it’s really a group of horn conversations — each song features some intriguing interplay of call and response, trading and polyphonic improv. The mix blends a taste of New Orleans jazz with horn driven funk and great versatility. Take a walk do old Hunter Avenue with me and listen to Transmission track-by-track.
In an era where audiences crave authenticity, Huntertones delivers. True believers in the power of direct communication, saxophonist Dan White, trumpeter/sousaphone player Jon Lampley, trombonist Chris Ott, guitarist Joshua Hill, bassist Adam DeAscentis and drummer John Hubbell consistently bring genuine artistry straight to the people. Demonstrating commitment to what’s real, this outfit reaches new heights with Transmission.
Recorded in a single room without isolation, and documenting the results on video for all to see and hear, Huntertones leaves no doubt as to why its following is loyal, large, and growing. “This is the opposite of AI music,” White proudly notes. “This is six or seven people playing live in a room, together. This is human music, certified organic.” Lampley concurs: “In this world, everything is becoming automated, and people are talking about how technology can push music forward, but really it’s just kind of making a lot of things sound the same. We’re getting back to the idea of getting in a room and doing the thing that literally will only sound like us.”
– Huntertones (on Bandcamp)
Track-By-Track
VALLEY BEE naturally starts with a slinky horn riff, and the bent notes tailing off intone New Orleans right away, perhaps akin to a Dr. John tune. Dan White starts the conversation, passes the ball to Jon Lampley on trumpet, and then back to Chris Ott on trombone. The relay goes for a couple of rounds before they hit a bar rises and then drops and segues right into a nifty guitar solo from Joshua Hill. It cruises along sounding like a horse-drawn carriage thanks to the percussion and John Hubbell’s jaunty drums.
Opening on White’s “Valley Bee,” Huntertones immediately hits a grooving stride. An inviting jaunt that nods in name to the street where the composer grew up, it keeps things “light and tight” while spreading joy and solos around.
MELODIAN nicely has it’s own live recording video. It has a catchy island feel with the horn intro and percussion from guest Nêgah Santos. Dan White gets an extended solo on this one that gives way to Santos for a seat in the star chamber. It moves to a signature Huntertones section with White and Ott trading and then the horn trio returns to the main theme. It’s a feel-good tune all around.
Ott’s “Melodian,” namechecking the melodica used in its composition and winking at one of the trombonist’s first big band pieces, brings island influences to the fore. Crossing tides speak to multiple cultures while Santos’ percussive coloring offers Brazil-liant accents.
THANK YOU is a Bonnie Raitt cover, featuring Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive fame. Covering an icon can be a risk but Rachael’s mezzo-soprano cuts a fantastic version. As you’d expect, Huntertones version has a more prominent horn arrangement for the bridge while sticking to the main melody. The whole package is a nice addition to the album
Literally placing Price in the center of the frame, Huntertones puts its own stamp on Bonnie Raitt’s “Thank You.” Creating a controlled atmosphere for the incomparable singer to shine while enhancing the beauty of the songwriting with a heightened horn presence, the collective conjures three minutes of magic while relaying an attitude for gratitude.
EFOA opens with a triple relay from guitar to trombone to bass before the full horn section hits with force. Huntertones’ classic arrangement is for a brief single horn for a few bars that is then joined for the full ensemble. In Efoa it’s the trombone in the first round and the conch shells in the second. If I hadn’t seen the video, I would likely mistake the shells for a trombone or trumpet. The next round is a nice pass-off from trombone to sax to trumpet. Joshua Hill gets a turn for a guitar solo in this very soothing Afro-Caribbean-feeling tune
Ott’s “Efoa,” with West African flavors and flow, reflects on the band’s world travels while giving its creator a chance to display his skill(s) on conch shells. The titular phrase—a greeting in Togo—is indicative of the welcoming wonders at hand in this showstopper.
SNAGGLETOOTH is a truly funk tune with a low end elephant walk opening featuring the bari sax that yields to an extended trumpet solo from Lampley. He hands off back to White on sax and it’s apparent the band is having fun with the chants in the background The horns are super slinky and greasy in this one right up to the finish.
Switching gears, Huntertones gets delightfully dirty on “Snaggletooth.” A slow slammer with White holding down the fort on baritone saxophone and Lampley bringing the heat on trumpet, its staunch raunch owes as much to Parliament-style punch as it does to anything else. Not surprisingly, it leaves the listener wanting more. “And that’s why you come to the show,” Lampley shares with a smile.
MESSENGER starts with Joshua Hill on guitar playing an western-sounding theme. It’s a real finger-snapping tune with the horn section trading playing asynchronously at first. Ott takes a low-end solo on the bone and passes it back to Hill to build on the opening riff that he started. It’s a bit Scofield-like, and the band cheers him on. Santos and Hubbell play some funky percussion section that then continues. For the closeout, the horns play a New Orleans-style polyphonic improv that is top shelf.
“Messenger” serves as a winning example of musical morphing through personality input. Ott initially drew inspirations from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, but Hill added southwestern sensibilities, bettering the results in the process. “Josh has this country grit,” the trombonist notes, “and he can really get there. So, to not use that would be a disservice to the music.”
SATURDAY SPIN features Lampley on sousaphone, which I love as the bottom. The rhythm section really percolates, and its spacing between horn sections is terrific. Dan White takes the lead with a funky sax solo that hands off to a Lampley sousaphone solo. Hill takes the next turn and actually has some sweet interplay with the horn section.
White’s “Saturday Spin,” which teased the album’s arrival via video, builds around the rhythm section, with Santos coming on like a “freight train of groove.” Lampley moves to sousaphone here, adding serious width and weight to energize this pass-the-baton party.
TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMPS sounds elegant and cinematic at the onset with tender horns and rhythm section. Lampley launches into the lead solo telling the story, slowing at first and then reigniting and finally settling in to the slow rolling stop.
Suffused with spiritualism, Hill’s “Transmission of the Lamps” stretches the dimensions of the band. With Lampley’s trumpet lighting the way, Huntertones presents an arced quest that stands apart and beyond. And in doing so, a throughline is illuminated. “A theme that is played with a lot on this album is using polar opposites to pull more out of the music and each other,” White explains. “Rough and smooth textures, loud and soft, short and long, tension and release.” Juxtaposing one against the other, either within a single song or in contrasting numbers, Huntertones accentuates both sides of each coin.
WICHITA LINEMAN is etched in the headspace of all people of a certain (my) age as the Glen Campbell classic. It’s considered a classic, one of the greatest songs of all time, a Grammy winner, and the first ‘existential country’ song. Kurt Elling is a two-time Grammy winner as well, so pairing him with this song plus the Huntertones is a potent elixir. Of course, Elling crushes it, and the horn lines are perfect. The cherry on top is Justin Stanton’s (Snarky Puppy) piano accompaniment, adding a crisp touch syncing up with the vocals.
Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” lingering in the hearts and minds of listeners of all stripes, proves to be a perfectly pliant vehicle for Ott’s writing and Elling’s lyrical devotion. With tastefully creative reharmonization, evolving and overlapping rhythmic currents, perfectly complementary lines from Stanton, and a characteristically powerful interpretation from one of jazz’s greatest modern voices, this performance retains the original’s mystery while containing its own secrets and profound truths.
FIXINS starts with an Adam DeAscentis bass riff, quickly joined by Hill on guitar and then White on sax. It’s another one that feels like it could fit in to a down South songbook. The horns play some rounds and pass the baton to Hill, who plays some bluesy jams and trades with Lampley on a muted trumpet. The horns punch in behind the lead protagonists. Lampley flies into a soaring bit, and the band comes back with a fine flourish to finish.
Lampley’s “Fixins,” a train-beat triumph focusing on downhome life, closes out the album in countrified style. Eyeing rural roots, it’s a number that demonstrates two essentials in the Huntertones playbook—a keen focus on writing for the specific members of the band and allowing the music to evolve. Lampley readily admits to leveraging Hill’s back porch bona fides and Ott’s virtuosic plunger mute work; and White, acknowledges that the sweet spot for a Huntertones arrangement comes after a few years of touring it, creating a lived-in understanding of its virtues. With that, Huntertones notes excitement about bringing Transmission’s material on the road. It’s music that’s most certainly ripe and ready for fans’ ears.
Huntertones 'Transmission' Credits
- Dan White tenor & baritone saxophone
- Jon Lampley trumpet, sousaphone
- Chris Ott trombone, conch shells
- Joshua Hill electric guitar
- Adam DeAscentis electric bass
- John Hubbell drum set
Special guests:
- Nêgah Santos percussion (tracks 1-3, 6-8)
- Rachael Price vocals (track 3)
- Justin Stanton keyboards (track 9)
- Kurt Elling vocals (track 9)
Buy on Bandcamp
