Joyous Shout! is pleased to announce that Legendary Jazz Drummer and Bandleader Foreststorn “Chico" Hamilton will be hitting the road extensively throughout the balance of 2005, starting off with his DEBUT appearance on the Playboy Jazz Festival in LA at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday June 12th, 2005!! Chico will be performing with his “Euphoria" group featuring Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on bass, Evan Schwam on flute, soprano & tenor saxes, and special guest Eric Person on flute, alto & soprano saxes.
Chico's 2005 started off with a quick jaunt to the West Coast to participate in the IAJE, putting in a guest appearance with Jackie Harris' Louis “Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Camp All-Stars, and performing on the NEA Jazz Masters Award Ceremony & Concert with Geri Allen, and then continuing to Seattle with a two night stand with his “Euphoria" group at a WONDERFUL venue, The Triple Door.
After the West Coast trip, Chico returned to New York to resume teaching his classes for the Spring semester at The New School's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program, and also went into rehearsals with his “Euphoria" group for a string of recordings which will result in three albums, part of a four album release schedule which starts with the already completed “Juniflip". “Juniflip" features his current “Euphoria" group and augmenting the quintet on five cuts are former Hamilton band-members George Bohanon on trombone and Jimmy Cheatham on bass trombone. Juniflip also features the wonderful vocalist Bill Henderson on two cuts, and a VERY special guest spot from Arthur Lee of the band Love!! More news on the release of this special string of recordings will be coming soon!!
Chico was awarded a NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for 2004 at the IAJE Convention in NYC this past January. The Jazz Masters Fellowship is awarded by the NEA to recognize distinguished Jazz artists who have made a significant contribution to the art form. In 2002 Chico was awarded the WLIU-FM Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1997 Chico received the Beacons in Jazz Award from the New School University Jazz & Contemporary Music Program in recognition for his “significant contribution to the evolution of Jazz."
Chico's touring schedule will continue over the summer with appearances: June 18th at the Artists Collective in Hartford, CT (w/ special guest vocalist Bill Henderson); July 7th on the Chicken Bone Beach Music Series on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ; August 18th on the Out-Of-Doors Festival at Lincoln Center in NYC; August 27th at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, NY; and August 30th for the season finale of Jazz Forum's Summer Series with a show at the City Hall Plaza in Mount Vernon, NY.Chico has several dates confirmed, and many other dates in the works, throughout the country thru the fall and into the winter.
Also soon to be announced is news on the worldwide release of Soulfeast Presents the Chico Hamilton Remix Project feat. remixes from Soulfeast (Joe Claussell & Brian Bacchus), MKL vs. Soy Sos, DJ Smash and Still Phil, plus news on the first public hearing of the track Kerry's Caravan from Mudd Feat. Chico Hamilton, a moody yet stunning slice of modern music and a molten melting pot ready made for filling the dance floor with remixes from long-term Idjut Boys collaborator and Fiasco imprint boss Ray Mang!! Mudd, a.k.a. the UK's own Paul N. Murphy, is best known as a member of the London based Afro-Dance ensemble Akwaaba, whose single Just Pilau was turned into an anthem at NYC's Body & Soul by Francois Kevorkian.
Stay tuned for more details on Further Adventures of El-Chico, and more info on the Chico's new string of recordings with sounds which will show why Foreststorn “Chico" Hamilton is “Still The Man" for Each & Every Generation!!
For more information contact All About Jazz.
