Chico Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Chico Hamilton is an American
jazz drummer
and bandleader
.
, California
. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus
, Illinois Jacquet
, Ernie Royal
, Dexter Gordon
, Buddy Collette
and Jack Kelso. Engagements with Lionel Hampton
, Slim & Slam
, T-Bone Walker
, Lester Young
, Count Basie
, Duke Ellington
, Charlie Barnet
, Billy Eckstine
, Nat King Cole
, Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday
, Gerry Mulligan
and six years with Lena Horne
established him as a jazz drummer, and he struck out on his own as a bandleader in 1955.
Hamilton appeared in the March Milastaire number in the film You'll Never Get Rich
(1941) as part of the backing group supporting Fred Astaire
, and performed on the soundtrack of the Bing Crosby
/Bob Hope
film Road to Bali
.
He recorded his first album as leader in 1955 with George Duvivier
(double-bass) and Howard Roberts
(jazz guitar
) for Pacific Jazz
. In same year Hamilton formed an unusual quintet
in L.A. featuring cello
, flute
, guitar
, bass
and drums. The quintet has been described as one of the last important West Coast Jazz
bands. The original personnel included flutist Buddy Collette
, guitarist Jim Hall
, cellist Fred Katz
and bassist Jim Aton, who was later replaced by Carson Smith
. Hamilton continued to tour using different personnel, from 1957 to 1960. The group including flutist Paul Horn and John Pisano
was featured in the film Sweet Smell of Success
in 1957. The same group, this time including Nate Gershman and Eric Dolphy
appeared in the film Jazz on a Summer's Day
in 1960. He marked his first recordings with Eric Dolphy on With Strings Attached, Gongs East, The Three Faces of Chico, and That Hamilton Man.
Hamilton revamped his group in 1961 with Charles Lloyd, Gabor Szabo
, George Bohanon and Albert Stinson
, playing what has been described as "a moderate avant-gardism." The group recorded for Columbia
, Reprise
and Impulse Records
and also recorded the soundtrack
for the industrial film Litho in 1962, the first American film to be shown behind the Iron Curtain
. Hamilton formed a commercial and film production company in 1965; scored the feature films Repulsion
, Mr. Rico, By Design
, Liebe Auf Den Ersten Blick, Die Sonnengottin, and A Practical Man; scored for television Portrait of Willie Mays and the popular children's series Gerald McBoing Boing, and scored hundreds of commercials for TV and radio.
He formed a new group with Larry Coryell
, Richard Davis and Arnie Lawrence
in 1966 and recorded The Dealer
for Impulse Records.
in 1972 and 1973, then formed a new group called Players in 1975 with Arthur Blythe
, Steve Turre
, Barry Finnerty
and Abdullah
; also, wrote and performed the musical score for the movie Coonskin
in same year. Hamilton toured with Players using different personnel in 1976-80; recorded for Blue Note
, Mercury Records
, Nautilus and Elektra
. Originating faculty member in 1987 of New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Program.
He formed another group named Euphoria in 1987 with Eric Person
, Cary DeNigris and Reggie Washington; recorded Euphoria and toured Europe with the group 1987, 1988, 1990. Performed at Verona, Bolzano, Vienne, Nice, North Sea Jazz Festival
and Montreux Jazz Festivals in 1989 with regrouped original quintet with Buddy Collette, Fred Katz, John Pisano, Carson Smith; recorded Reunion for Soul Note. For Soul Note records Arroyo with Euphoria group, Trio!
w. Eric Person
, Cary DeNigris, Eric Dolphy tribute My Panamanian Friend with Euphoria group, and solo drum session Dancing to a Different Drummer. Toured Europe with Euphoria in 1994. Hamilton was the subject of a documentary film by director Julian Benedikt, Dancing to a Different Drummer.
Hamilton released Foreststorn in 2001 featuring Euphoria with Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey
on bass, and a new two horn front line featuring Eric Lawrence on alto and soprano saxes and Evan Schwam on tenor sax, as well as special guest appearances from former band members Arthur Blythe, Steve Turre and his wife Akua Dixon, Eric Person
, former Spin Doctors
guitarist Eric Schenkman (a student of Chico's), Blues Traveler
front man John Popper
(also a student of Chico's), and Charlie Watts
of The Rolling Stones
. In August 2001 he performed in front of 2300 people at Lincoln Center My Funny Valentine: A Tribute to Chico Hamilton with Euphoria plus special guest appearances from Joe Beck
, Arthur Blythe, Larry Coryell, Akua Dixon, Rodney Jones
and Eric Person
. In fall 2002 he released Thoughts of… with Euphoria, with special guest appearances from guitarists and former band members Joe Beck, Larry Coryell and Rodney Jones
.
In 1997, Hamilton received the New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Programs Beacons in Jazz Award in recognition for his "significant contribution to the evolution of Jazz." In 2002, he was awarded the WLIU-FM Radio Lifetime Achievement Award. At the IAJE in NYC January 2004, Hamilton was awarded a NEA Jazz Master Fellowship, presented to him by Roy Haynes
. In December 2006, Congress confirmed the President's nomination of Chico Hamilton to the Presidents Council on the Arts. And in 2007, Hamilton received a Living Legend Jazz Award as part of The Kennedy Center Jazz in Our Time Festival, as well as receiving a Doctor of Fine Arts from The New School
.
Hamilton has a resume that includes scores for film, original compositions, commercial jingles, albums as a leader, and countless international tours. In 2006, he released four CDs on Joyous Shout! in celebration of his 85th birthday: Juniflip featuring guest appearances from Love
front-man Arthur Lee
, vocalist (and successful actor) Bill Henderson, and former Hamilton band members trombonist George Bohanon and bass trombonist Jimmy Cheatham
; Believe with special guest appearances from vocalist and rhythm and blues
singer Fontella Bass
and trombonist George Bohanon; 6th Avenue Romp featuring special guest appearances from guitarist Shuggie Otis
, trumpeter Jon Faddis
, trombonist George Bohanon, vocalist Brenna Bavis and percussionist Jaimoe of the Allman Brothers Band; and Heritage with special guest appearances from vocalist Marya Lawrence and trombonist George Bohanon. In September 2007, he released Hamiltonia sampling his original compositions from the four albums released in 2006.
Over the years, Hamilton has had a series of dance successes, including his signature song "Conquistadors" from his 1960s Impulse
album El Chico, and the Brazilian influenced song "Strut" from Hamilton's 1980 Elektra album, Nomad, which became so successful on the Northern Soul scene
in the U.K. that it had its own dance. In 2002 a track titled "For Mods Only" from Hamilton's 1968 Impulse
album The Dealer
, was included on the Thievery Corporation
's Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi. In 2006, Rong Music released the 12" vinyl Kerry's Caravan from Mudd and Chico Hamilton, with remixes from long-term Idjut Boys collaborator and Fiasco imprint boss Ray Mang. And the recent Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked
Remix Project features Mark De Clive-Lowe
's remix of Chico's song "El Toro." Released in December 2007 from SoulFeast (Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell and Brian Michel Bacchus) is a 12" single on 180 gram vinyl of their recasting of Chico's track "Mysterious Maiden," in 2008 from SoulFeast is a CD EP Chico Hamilton Presents: Alternative Dimensions of El Chico, and in 2009 a 12" double vinyl version of Chico Hamilton Presents: Alternative Dimensions of El Chico.
He was interviewed by the online magazine Jazz.com's critique Arnold Jay Smith in 2008.
Hamilton released Twelve Tones of Love on Joyous Shout! in 2009. From Maxwell Chandler’s liner notes: “Chico Hamilton looks back not as a summation but with the past as a jumping off point to where he is now; the foundation to build off of what he has to say in the here and now. This album has Chico writing for and playing with an enlarged ensemble, offering us a glimpse of his life’s journey and some of those he has shared it with. It speaks greatly of all the musicians’ skills that they are performing Chico’s compositions yet their interplay becomes another color on his palette, which allows him to further embellish the picture he is painting. This is one of the appealing aspects to all of Chico’s music, an always-organic sense of tension and release. Guest spots include trombonist George Bohanon, who was in one of Chico’s classic sixties ensembles; vocalist Jose James
, who studied under Chico at New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music program; and multi-reedist Jack Kelso, Chico’s lifelong friend. This album is a celebration of a lifelong romance Chico has had with music and the relationships that came into his life both past and present through his service to the muse. Those who forge their own way may travel a harder road but their art loses none of its power with the passage of time because of these trials. Twelve Tones of Love is proof of that aphorism to continuously enjoy”.
In March 2011, with his 90th birthday six months off, Hamilton trekked out of his New York City penthouse apartment to helm a marathon recording session resulting in 28 new tracks with his Euphoria group. No one woodsheds like a jazz drummer, and coming off a health setback during the Summer of 2010, Hamilton and his Euphoria group began sheding at weekly rehearsals at Hamilton’s Penthouse A. These weekly rehearsals played an important part in Hamilton’s rehabilitation, facilitated Hamilton and his group becoming very tight with each other and exploring places musically they had not previously gone together, and brought together a wealth of new original material, offered up in three courses, each of which is a different viewpoint of Hamilton’s Revelation
.
The Revelation EP on 10” vinyl- Hamilton’s very first recording as a leader, Chico Hamilton Trio in 1955 on Pacific Jazz with Howard Roberts & George Duvivier, was pressed up on 10” vinyl. So it seemed a fitting tribute to Chico’s longevity as a leader for a selection of Chico originals, two tracks of which are exclusive to this format, 58 years later to be presented in the same format.
The Euphoric EP, on CD- Hamilton’s very proud of each member of his Euphoria group, both in how they have matured as players and in how they have developed as composers. A testament to both the prowess of each group member as a composer, and to Hamilton’s strength as a leader, this release is a tip of the hat from Hamilton to his Euphoria group gathering the group members original compositions together, half of which are exclusive to this format.
The Revelation
CD- With 11 tracks exclusive to this format, Revelation
opens and closes with a focus on Hamilton @ his drum kit, and in-between takes us on a different journey from both the melodic and rhythmic points of view. From the up-tempo Latin groove of “Evanly” with its vocal out chorus; the mid tempo swing of “No Way LA” & “Ten Minutes To Twelve”; the Lunceford-like band vocals on “Stompin’ @ The Savoy” & “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing)”; to Hamilton’s vocalizing on “Every Time I Smile”; the pastoral melodic beauty of “You’re Note Alone”; the up-tempo funk of “Black Eyed Peas”; and the bossa funkiness of “Foot Prints in the Sand” with its starkly beautiful vocal out chorus- every track is like turning a page in a book that’s holding you on the edge of your seat, your rapt attention dying to know what’s next to be revealed. And indeed what a revelation are these 22 tracks!!
From the Revelation
CD liner notes by Maxwell Chandler: ”The excitement of new works from Chico is not derived from any absence as he has not stopped, nor is it due to the curiosity factor of seeing what type of artistic phase he is entering into. He does not create in that manner or care about such things, bringing the best of what he has found with him even if only as a component to further his forward moving trajectory. The excitement is due to the knowledge that here is an addition to the oeuvre of an artist who is the rare to find, possessor of freedom derived equally from intellect and soul.”
Hamilton is busy working on his video memoir, composing and performing music for film, and working on additional album releases, performing with his Euphoria group: Paul Ramsey
on bass; Nick Demopoulos on guitar; Evan Schwam on saxes, flute & piccolo; Mayu Saeki on flute, alto flute & piccolo; and Jeremy Carlstedt on drums and percussion. Saluted by the Kennedy Center as a “Living Jazz Legend”, and appointed to the National Council on the Arts, Hamilton is considered one of the most important living jazz artists and composers. His brother was the actor Bernie Hamilton
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz drummer
Jazz drumming
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz-rock fusion and 1980s-era latin jazz...
and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
.
Early life through 1960s
Hamilton was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
, Ernie Royal
Ernie Royal
Ernest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter.His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles .He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937...
, Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, Buddy Collette
Buddy Collette
William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
and Jack Kelso. Engagements with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Slim & Slam
Slim & Slam
Slim & Slam was a 1930s musical partnership formed by Bulee "Slim" Gaillard and Leroy Elliott "Slam" Stewart . They produced novelty jazz numbers featuring Slim's distinctive vocal style with vocalese and scats, hipster argot and nonce words...
, T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Charlie Barnet
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".-Early life:...
, Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
and six years with Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
established him as a jazz drummer, and he struck out on his own as a bandleader in 1955.
Hamilton appeared in the March Milastaire number in the film You'll Never Get Rich
You'll Never Get Rich
You'll Never Get Rich is a 1941 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, Cliff Nazarro, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The film was directed by Sidney Lanfield...
(1941) as part of the backing group supporting Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
, and performed on the soundtrack of the Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
/Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
film Road to Bali
Road to Bali
Road to Bali is a 1952 comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. It was released by Paramount Pictures and is the sixth of the seven Road to … movies...
.
He recorded his first album as leader in 1955 with George Duvivier
George Duvivier
George Duvivier was an American jazz double-bass player.Duvivier was born in New York City and took up the cello and also the violin while in high school before settling on the bass. He also learned composition and scoring before going out on the road with Lucky Millinder and then with the Cab...
(double-bass) and Howard Roberts
Howard Roberts
Howard Roberts was an American jazz guitarist, educator and session musician.-Biography:Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and began playing guitar at age 8. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally locally....
(jazz guitar
Jazz guitar
The term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of guitar playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz"...
) for Pacific Jazz
Pacific Jazz Records
Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record label best known for releasing cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded by Richard Bock and drummer Roy Harte in 1952....
. In same year Hamilton formed an unusual quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
in L.A. featuring cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and drums. The quintet has been described as one of the last important West Coast Jazz
West coast jazz
West Coast jazz refers to various styles of jazz music that developed around Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a sub-genre of cool jazz, which featured a less frenetic, calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music tended to be more heavily arranged,...
bands. The original personnel included flutist Buddy Collette
Buddy Collette
William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
, guitarist Jim Hall
Jim Hall
Jim Hall is the name of:* Jim Hall , jazz guitarist and composer* Jim Hall , Australian boxer in the late 19th century* Jim Hall , race car driver and founder of Chaparral Cars...
, cellist Fred Katz
Fred Katz (cellist)
Fred Katz is an American cellist and composer. He is notable as one of the first jazz musicians to establish the cello as a viable improvising solo instrument. Katz has been described in CODA magazine as "the first real jazz cellist." Cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm Fred Katz (born February 25, 1919 in...
and bassist Jim Aton, who was later replaced by Carson Smith
Carson Smith
Carson Raymond Smith was an American jazz double-bassist.Smith's early work was in West Coast jazz, playing with Gerry Mulligan , Chet Baker , Russ Freeman , and Chico Hamilton...
. Hamilton continued to tour using different personnel, from 1957 to 1960. The group including flutist Paul Horn and John Pisano
John Pisano
John Pisano is a jazz guitarist born in Staten Island, New York.John has accompanied in concert or recording some of music's biggest names, including Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Herb Alpert, Natalie Cole, Michael Franks, Diana Krall, Peggy Lee, Julie London, Joe Pass, Frank Sinatra, Barbra...
was featured in the film Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman...
in 1957. The same group, this time including Nate Gershman and Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
appeared in the film Jazz on a Summer's Day
Jazz on a Summer's Day
Jazz on a Summer's Day is a documentary film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, and filmed and directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and the film director Aram Avakian , who also edited the movie...
in 1960. He marked his first recordings with Eric Dolphy on With Strings Attached, Gongs East, The Three Faces of Chico, and That Hamilton Man.
Hamilton revamped his group in 1961 with Charles Lloyd, Gabor Szabo
Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...
, George Bohanon and Albert Stinson
Albert Stinson
Albert Stinson was an American jazz double-bassist.Stinson learned to play piano, trombone, and tuba before settling on bass at age 14...
, playing what has been described as "a moderate avant-gardism." The group recorded for Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Reprise
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
and Impulse Records
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
and also recorded the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the industrial film Litho in 1962, the first American film to be shown behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
. Hamilton formed a commercial and film production company in 1965; scored the feature films Repulsion
Repulsion
Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed by Roman Polanski, based on a scenario by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was shot in Britain, as such being his second film made outside his native Poland. The cast includes...
, Mr. Rico, By Design
By Design
By Design is a Canadian film directed by Claude Jutra and was released in 1982. It stars Sara Botsford and Patty Duke Astin.-Synopsis:Angie , and Helen , are in love and they live and work together - they design women's clothes and run their own fashion business in Vancouver. Helen wants to be a...
, Liebe Auf Den Ersten Blick, Die Sonnengottin, and A Practical Man; scored for television Portrait of Willie Mays and the popular children's series Gerald McBoing Boing, and scored hundreds of commercials for TV and radio.
He formed a new group with Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
, Richard Davis and Arnie Lawrence
Arnie Lawrence
Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein, better known as Arnie Lawrence was an American jazz saxophonist....
in 1966 and recorded The Dealer
The Dealer
The Dealer is a 1966 release by jazz drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. It was first released by Impulse! Records and has been subsequently reissused on CD with the addition of bonus tracks from Chic Chic Chico, Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3 and Passin' Thru...
for Impulse Records.
1970s onwards
He performed at Montreux Jazz FestivalMontreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
in 1972 and 1973, then formed a new group called Players in 1975 with Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
, Steve Turre
Steve Turre
Steve Turre is a trombonist, recording artist, arranger, and educator. In 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2006 he won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for best trombonist....
, Barry Finnerty
Barry Finnerty
Michael Barry Finnerty is an American jazz guitarist, keyboardist, and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician for artists like Miles Davis and the Crusaders...
and Abdullah
Abdullah
-Places:*Abdullah Gan, mountainous region of Afghanistan*Abdullah Hukum LRT station, elevated rapid transit station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia*Kampung Haji Abdullah Hukum, was an urban village located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
; also, wrote and performed the musical score for the movie Coonskin
Coonskin (film)
Coonskin is a 1975 American animated film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists and the Mafia...
in same year. Hamilton toured with Players using different personnel in 1976-80; recorded for Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
, Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, Nautilus and Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Originating faculty member in 1987 of New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Program.
He formed another group named Euphoria in 1987 with Eric Person
Eric Person
Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
, Cary DeNigris and Reggie Washington; recorded Euphoria and toured Europe with the group 1987, 1988, 1990. Performed at Verona, Bolzano, Vienne, Nice, North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
and Montreux Jazz Festivals in 1989 with regrouped original quintet with Buddy Collette, Fred Katz, John Pisano, Carson Smith; recorded Reunion for Soul Note. For Soul Note records Arroyo with Euphoria group, Trio!
TRIO!
Trio! was a one-time acoustic jazz fusion supergroup during 2005. It consisted of bassist Stanley Clarke , jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , and banjoist Béla Fleck .Much of the material performed by Trio! was from The Rite of Strings, with Fleck...
w. Eric Person
Eric Person
Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
, Cary DeNigris, Eric Dolphy tribute My Panamanian Friend with Euphoria group, and solo drum session Dancing to a Different Drummer. Toured Europe with Euphoria in 1994. Hamilton was the subject of a documentary film by director Julian Benedikt, Dancing to a Different Drummer.
Hamilton released Foreststorn in 2001 featuring Euphoria with Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey
Paul Ramsey
Paul Christopher Ramsey is a former professional footballer and Northern Ireland international who played in a defensive midfield role. He featured for Northern Ireland in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.-Career:...
on bass, and a new two horn front line featuring Eric Lawrence on alto and soprano saxes and Evan Schwam on tenor sax, as well as special guest appearances from former band members Arthur Blythe, Steve Turre and his wife Akua Dixon, Eric Person
Eric Person
Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
, former Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....
guitarist Eric Schenkman (a student of Chico's), Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
front man John Popper
John Popper
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...
(also a student of Chico's), and Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. In August 2001 he performed in front of 2300 people at Lincoln Center My Funny Valentine: A Tribute to Chico Hamilton with Euphoria plus special guest appearances from Joe Beck
Joe Beck
Joe Beck was an American guitarist who had been notable in jazz for more than 30 years.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Beck also briefly flirted with rock music in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, Arthur Blythe, Larry Coryell, Akua Dixon, Rodney Jones
Rodney Jones
Rodney Jones is an American poet and professor of English at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Jones was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award. His other honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Peter I.B...
and Eric Person
Eric Person
Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
. In fall 2002 he released Thoughts of… with Euphoria, with special guest appearances from guitarists and former band members Joe Beck, Larry Coryell and Rodney Jones
Rodney Jones
Rodney Jones is an American poet and professor of English at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Jones was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award. His other honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Peter I.B...
.
In 1997, Hamilton received the New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Programs Beacons in Jazz Award in recognition for his "significant contribution to the evolution of Jazz." In 2002, he was awarded the WLIU-FM Radio Lifetime Achievement Award. At the IAJE in NYC January 2004, Hamilton was awarded a NEA Jazz Master Fellowship, presented to him by Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
Roy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
. In December 2006, Congress confirmed the President's nomination of Chico Hamilton to the Presidents Council on the Arts. And in 2007, Hamilton received a Living Legend Jazz Award as part of The Kennedy Center Jazz in Our Time Festival, as well as receiving a Doctor of Fine Arts from The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
.
Hamilton has a resume that includes scores for film, original compositions, commercial jingles, albums as a leader, and countless international tours. In 2006, he released four CDs on Joyous Shout! in celebration of his 85th birthday: Juniflip featuring guest appearances from Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
front-man Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee (musician)
Arthur Lee was the frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the Los Angeles rock band Love, best known for the critically acclaimed 1967 album, Forever Changes.-Early years:...
, vocalist (and successful actor) Bill Henderson, and former Hamilton band members trombonist George Bohanon and bass trombonist Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham was an American jazz trombonist and teacher who played with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Ornette Coleman. In 1978, Cheatham was invited to head the jazz program at University of California, San Diego and, in 1979, he was appointed head of the African American and jazz...
; Believe with special guest appearances from vocalist and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
and trombonist George Bohanon; 6th Avenue Romp featuring special guest appearances from guitarist Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist....
, trumpeter Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
, trombonist George Bohanon, vocalist Brenna Bavis and percussionist Jaimoe of the Allman Brothers Band; and Heritage with special guest appearances from vocalist Marya Lawrence and trombonist George Bohanon. In September 2007, he released Hamiltonia sampling his original compositions from the four albums released in 2006.
Over the years, Hamilton has had a series of dance successes, including his signature song "Conquistadors" from his 1960s Impulse
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
album El Chico, and the Brazilian influenced song "Strut" from Hamilton's 1980 Elektra album, Nomad, which became so successful on the Northern Soul scene
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
in the U.K. that it had its own dance. In 2002 a track titled "For Mods Only" from Hamilton's 1968 Impulse
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
album The Dealer
The Dealer
The Dealer is a 1966 release by jazz drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. It was first released by Impulse! Records and has been subsequently reissused on CD with the addition of bonus tracks from Chic Chic Chico, Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3 and Passin' Thru...
, was included on the Thievery Corporation
Thievery Corporation
Thievery Corporation is a Washington, D.C. based recording artist and DJ duo consisting of Rob Garza, Eric Hilton, and their supporting artists, including current drummer Jeff Franca...
's Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi. In 2006, Rong Music released the 12" vinyl Kerry's Caravan from Mudd and Chico Hamilton, with remixes from long-term Idjut Boys collaborator and Fiasco imprint boss Ray Mang. And the recent Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked
Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked
Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked is a compilation of music originally released on Impulse! Records, remixed by contemporary hip hop and electronic musicians and released in 2005 on CD and LP for the same label.-Tracklisting:...
Remix Project features Mark De Clive-Lowe
Mark De Clive-Lowe
Mark de Clive-Lowe is a musician and producer originally from New Zealand, and now based in West London. He has been one of the key musicians in the Broken Beat and Nu Jazz movements, blending jazz, ethnic music and urban grooves into a 21st Century sound...
's remix of Chico's song "El Toro." Released in December 2007 from SoulFeast (Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell and Brian Michel Bacchus) is a 12" single on 180 gram vinyl of their recasting of Chico's track "Mysterious Maiden," in 2008 from SoulFeast is a CD EP Chico Hamilton Presents: Alternative Dimensions of El Chico, and in 2009 a 12" double vinyl version of Chico Hamilton Presents: Alternative Dimensions of El Chico.
He was interviewed by the online magazine Jazz.com's critique Arnold Jay Smith in 2008.
Hamilton released Twelve Tones of Love on Joyous Shout! in 2009. From Maxwell Chandler’s liner notes: “Chico Hamilton looks back not as a summation but with the past as a jumping off point to where he is now; the foundation to build off of what he has to say in the here and now. This album has Chico writing for and playing with an enlarged ensemble, offering us a glimpse of his life’s journey and some of those he has shared it with. It speaks greatly of all the musicians’ skills that they are performing Chico’s compositions yet their interplay becomes another color on his palette, which allows him to further embellish the picture he is painting. This is one of the appealing aspects to all of Chico’s music, an always-organic sense of tension and release. Guest spots include trombonist George Bohanon, who was in one of Chico’s classic sixties ensembles; vocalist Jose James
José James
José James is an American vocalist best known for performing and blending modern jazz and hip-hop. James performs all over the world both as a leader and with other groups.-Biography:...
, who studied under Chico at New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music program; and multi-reedist Jack Kelso, Chico’s lifelong friend. This album is a celebration of a lifelong romance Chico has had with music and the relationships that came into his life both past and present through his service to the muse. Those who forge their own way may travel a harder road but their art loses none of its power with the passage of time because of these trials. Twelve Tones of Love is proof of that aphorism to continuously enjoy”.
In March 2011, with his 90th birthday six months off, Hamilton trekked out of his New York City penthouse apartment to helm a marathon recording session resulting in 28 new tracks with his Euphoria group. No one woodsheds like a jazz drummer, and coming off a health setback during the Summer of 2010, Hamilton and his Euphoria group began sheding at weekly rehearsals at Hamilton’s Penthouse A. These weekly rehearsals played an important part in Hamilton’s rehabilitation, facilitated Hamilton and his group becoming very tight with each other and exploring places musically they had not previously gone together, and brought together a wealth of new original material, offered up in three courses, each of which is a different viewpoint of Hamilton’s Revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
.
The Revelation EP on 10” vinyl- Hamilton’s very first recording as a leader, Chico Hamilton Trio in 1955 on Pacific Jazz with Howard Roberts & George Duvivier, was pressed up on 10” vinyl. So it seemed a fitting tribute to Chico’s longevity as a leader for a selection of Chico originals, two tracks of which are exclusive to this format, 58 years later to be presented in the same format.
The Euphoric EP, on CD- Hamilton’s very proud of each member of his Euphoria group, both in how they have matured as players and in how they have developed as composers. A testament to both the prowess of each group member as a composer, and to Hamilton’s strength as a leader, this release is a tip of the hat from Hamilton to his Euphoria group gathering the group members original compositions together, half of which are exclusive to this format.
The Revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
CD- With 11 tracks exclusive to this format, Revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
opens and closes with a focus on Hamilton @ his drum kit, and in-between takes us on a different journey from both the melodic and rhythmic points of view. From the up-tempo Latin groove of “Evanly” with its vocal out chorus; the mid tempo swing of “No Way LA” & “Ten Minutes To Twelve”; the Lunceford-like band vocals on “Stompin’ @ The Savoy” & “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing)”; to Hamilton’s vocalizing on “Every Time I Smile”; the pastoral melodic beauty of “You’re Note Alone”; the up-tempo funk of “Black Eyed Peas”; and the bossa funkiness of “Foot Prints in the Sand” with its starkly beautiful vocal out chorus- every track is like turning a page in a book that’s holding you on the edge of your seat, your rapt attention dying to know what’s next to be revealed. And indeed what a revelation are these 22 tracks!!
From the Revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
CD liner notes by Maxwell Chandler: ”The excitement of new works from Chico is not derived from any absence as he has not stopped, nor is it due to the curiosity factor of seeing what type of artistic phase he is entering into. He does not create in that manner or care about such things, bringing the best of what he has found with him even if only as a component to further his forward moving trajectory. The excitement is due to the knowledge that here is an addition to the oeuvre of an artist who is the rare to find, possessor of freedom derived equally from intellect and soul.”
Hamilton is busy working on his video memoir, composing and performing music for film, and working on additional album releases, performing with his Euphoria group: Paul Ramsey
Paul Ramsey
Paul Christopher Ramsey is a former professional footballer and Northern Ireland international who played in a defensive midfield role. He featured for Northern Ireland in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.-Career:...
on bass; Nick Demopoulos on guitar; Evan Schwam on saxes, flute & piccolo; Mayu Saeki on flute, alto flute & piccolo; and Jeremy Carlstedt on drums and percussion. Saluted by the Kennedy Center as a “Living Jazz Legend”, and appointed to the National Council on the Arts, Hamilton is considered one of the most important living jazz artists and composers. His brother was the actor Bernie Hamilton
Bernie Hamilton
Bernie Hamilton was an American actor.Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles and attended Oakland Technical High School, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he laboured in bit roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato , the story of an...
.
As leader
- 1955: Chico Hamilton Trio (10" LP)
- 1955: Chico Hamilton Quintet feat. Buddy Collette
- 1960: Original Chico Hamilton Quintet
- 1956: Chico Hamilton Quintet In Hi-Fi
- 1956: Chico Hamilton Trio (12" LP)
- 1957: Chico Hamilton Quintet
- 1957: Zen: The Music Of Fred Katz
- 1957: Sweet Smell Of Success
- 1958: South Pacific In Hi-Fi
- 1958: Chico Hamilton Trio intro. Freddie Gambrel
- 1959: Ellington Suite (1958 version with Eric Dolphy released 2000)
- 1959: With Strings Attached
- 1959: Gongs East!
- 1959: The Three Faces Of Chico
- 1959: That Hamilton Man
- 1960: Bye Bye Birdie/Irma La Douce
- 1960 'Chico Hamilton Special
- 1962: Drumfusion
- 1962: Litho
- 1962: A Different Journey
- 1962: Passin' ThruPassin' Thru (Chico Hamilton album)Passin' Thru is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!Impulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
) - 1963: The Great Chico Hamilton Featuring Paul Horn (Crown RecordsCrown Records-Modern Records subsidiary:One Crown Records was a Budget Albums record label founded as a subsidiary of Modern Records.-Singles:* 19??: "Musso's Boogie" b/w "Sing Sing Sing" * 19??: "???" b/w "???" * 19??: "???" b/w "???"...
CLP 5341) - 1963: Man from Two WorldsMan from Two WorldsMan from Two Worlds is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1963 for the Impulse! label. The CD reissue added four compositions from Hamilton's previous album Passin' Thru as bonus tracks....
(Impulse!) - 1965: Chic Chic ChicoChic Chic ChicoChic Chic Chico is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1965 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!) - 1966: El ChicoEl Chico (album)El Chico is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1965 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "The influences of Latin jazz, bossa nova, and the avant-garde are mixed into the unusual...
(Impulse!) - 1966: The Further Adventures of El ChicoThe Further Adventures of El ChicoThe Further Adventures of El Chico is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!) - 1966: The DealerThe DealerThe Dealer is a 1966 release by jazz drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. It was first released by Impulse! Records and has been subsequently reissused on CD with the addition of bonus tracks from Chic Chic Chico, Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3 and Passin' Thru...
(Impulse!) - 1967: The Best of Chico Hamilton
- 1968: The Gamut
- 1969: The Head Hunters
- 1970: El Exigente/The Demanding One
- 1973: The Master
- 1974: Live At Montreux (with Albert King and Little Milton)
- 1975: Peregrinations
- 1976: The Players
- 1977: Catwalk
- 1979: Reaching For The Top
- 1980: Nomad
- 1988: Euphoria
- 1990: Transfusion
- 1991: Reunion
- 1992: Arroyo
- 1993: Trio!
- 1994: My Panamanian Friend (The Music Of Eric Dolphy)
- 1994: Dancing To A Different Drummer
- 1998: Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of the Chico Hamilton Quintet
- 1999 Timely
- 2000: Original Ellington Suite (recorded 1958)
- 2001: Foreststorn
- 2002: Thoughts Of...
- 2006: Juniflip
- 2006: Believe
- 2006: 6th Avenue Romp
- 2006: Heritage
- 2007: Hamiltonia
- 2007: Mysterious Maiden 12” 180 gram vinyl
- 2008: It's About Time EP
- 2008: Chico Hamilton Presents: Alternative Dimensions of El Chico EP
- 2008: Andrew Hill and Chico Hamilton- Dreams Come True
- 2008: Trio! Live @ Artpark
- 2009: The Alternative Dimensions of El Chico 12” double vinyl
- 2009: Twelve Tones of Love
- 2011: Revelation EP 10" vinyl
- 2011: Euphoric EP
- 2011: Revelation
As sideman
With Gábor SzabóGábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...
- SpellbinderSpellbinder (album)Spellbinder is an album by Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Szabo's read on jazz in the '60s was brilliant. He embodied all of its most popular aspirations...
(Impulse!, 1966)
External links
- Official website
- MySpace Page
- Official Online Store
- Thoughts of... Flash E-card
- Juniflip Flash E-card
- Believe Flash E-card
- 6th Avenue Romp Flash E-card
- Heritage Flash E-card
- Twelve Tones of Love EPK
- White House Drum Solo June 22nd, 2004
- The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Chico! Documentary