The James Hunter Six

The James Hunter Six are a soul-blues band from Essex, England. Their warm, earthy sound provides sophisticated musical backing for the group's singer/songwriter and guitar-slinging namesake, whose weathered yet buttery smooth voice has made the group a recording and touring sensation. Their lineup includes drummer Jonathan Lee, keyboardist/percussionist Andrew Kingslow, baritone saxophonist Lee Badau, tenor saxophonist Damian Hand, and bassist Jason Wilson. Though they've played together since the 1990s, they've been the James Hunter Six since signing to Daptone for 2013's Gabriel Roth (as Bosco Mann)-produced Minute by Minute. The group recorded 2016's Hold On! direct to eight-track tape at Penrose Recorders in Riverside, California. They employed the same process for 2018's Whatever It Takes.

After completing a wildly successful world tour, Hunter moved to New York and changed the band's personnel. Before heading to California to work at Daptone's Pemrose Studios with producer Bosco Mann, Hunter traded his British band for an American one filled with jazz and R&B musicians. The new James Hunter Six featured Victor Axelrod (aka "Ticklah" on piano), Adam Scone (organ), Rudy Albin Petschauer (drums), Myles Weeks (bass), Michael Buckley (baritone saxophone), and Freddy DeBoe (tenor saxophone) behind his own guitar and vocals. Announced in December with the rhumba-drenched single "I Can Change Your Mind," the album Nick of Time appeared from Daptone in March during tours of the U.S. and U.K. with guest Matt Slocum assisting the band on keyboards. In late 2021, the James Hunter Six returned to the studio with Mann and recorded a collection of ballads and love songs entitled With Love on Valentine's Day 2022. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi