Chico Hamilton: Now and Then

by Joel Roberts
August 2, 2009

Chico Hamilton Twelve Tones of Love Joyous Shout 2009 The Original Chico Hamilton Quintet Complete Studio Recordings Fresh Sound 2009 It would be a huge understatement simply to say that legendary drummer Chico Hamilton is still going strong as he approaches his 88th birthday next month. His latest CD, Twelve Tones of Love, is ...

Chico Hamilton: Twelve Tones of Love

by AAJ Italy Staff
June 22, 2009

Alla splendida et�� di 88 anni Chico Hamilton aggiunge un'altra gemma alla sua leggendaria carriera di batterista e leader. Artista assolutamente unico per creativit��, temperamento e percorsi, Chico non s'�� fermato alla stagione del West Coast Jazz (quando guidava il celeberrimo quintetto con violoncello) ma ha attraversato i decenni mostrando di collocarsi trasversalmente alle epoche senza perdere i tratti centrali del suo stile: una visione del jazz melodicamente attraente, dove la leggerezza dei percorsi di fonde in un tessuto ritmico ...

Take Five With Chico Hamilton

by AAJ Staff
May 8, 2009

Meet Chico Hamilton: Known for representing jazz in its purest form, octogenarian Chico Hamilton shows virtually no signs of fatigue. Saluted by the Kennedy Center as a “Living Jazz Legend," and appointed to the National Council on the Arts, Chico Hamilton is considered one of the most important living jazz artists and composers. He is currently on a national Borders Bookstore tour with his band Euphoria. While continuing to teach at the New School University Jazz Program, where he was ...

Chico Hamilton: Joyous Shout

by Donald Elfman
March 1, 2009

When Chico Hamilton was a boy growing up in Los Angeles, the film studios used to send trucks out to pick up the little African-American children to play natives in their Tarzan movies. “It was work, after all, and we got paid for it," says the drummer, now 87 years of age. “And what you learned very quickly is not to look into the camera. Once you did that they could never hire you again." That's a lesson that relates ...

Chico Hamilton - Andrew Hill: Dreams Come True

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 18, 2009

Dopo avere ascoltato questo disco non si pu�� trattenere un sorriso alla lettura delle tante, sempre meno significative, note di copertina che ornano i dischi di duetti di mezzo mondo, quelle nelle quali si sottolinea con devota ammirazione la “telepatica empatia," la “straordinaria fusione," il gioco di “botta e risposta istintivo" tra i due musicisti e via dicendo. In questa registrazione del 1993, il pianoforte di Andrew Hill e la batteria di Chico Hamilton scelgono deliberatamente di fregarsene l'uno dell'altra, ...

Chico Hamilton / Andrew Hill: Dreams Come True

by Lyn Horton
November 6, 2008

More than anything, music is similar to line. Music is also unidirectional; it cannot back up within the same context and repeat what has just been done. Excluding the shallowness or depth of the resonance of sound, the dimensionality in music stems from the intersection of lines as one instrumental line overlaps the other. An example of this interrelationship comes in a 1993 duo date with drummer Chico Hamilton and the late, unsurpassable pianist, Andrew Hill, on Dreams Come True. ...

Chico Hamilton: It's About Time

by Lyn Horton
September 11, 2008

No matter what tradition a drummer harks from, if that drummer is good, there is no avoiding the uplifting nature of the music when the drummer leads in a precise direction. Chico Hamilton is just that drummer. One need only to read his liner notes for It's About Time! and his standard is set. His musical aim: to find the pocket and stick with it.

The members of the trio on this recording have collaborated over a period ...