Jazz Articles

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 ...

Chico Hamilton: It's About Time!

by Terrell Kent Holmes
August 10, 2008

"It's about time," a common phrase of exasperated relief, has deeper temporal meanings as the title of Chico Hamilton's new CD. Its primary reference is to keeping time on the drums, which Hamilton has done skillfully for over a half-century. Moreover, the drums/bass/guitar trio setup on this disc is the same type he used on his 1955 debut as a leader, which gives the album a retrospective aspect. Finally, It's About Time! is a mere 28 minutes long--a time frame ...

Chico Hamilton: Hamiltonia

by Lyn Horton
October 1, 2007

Defying conventions even in the mildest of musical settings can define a path to innovation. For drummer Foreststorn “Chico Hamilton, blazing a trail within his own dynamic language, sometimes reflecting his heritage, has been a lifelong tradition.

On Hamiltonia, octogenarian Hamilton has chosen a group of originals from four 2006 recordings to summarize a view of his musical personality. The lack of presumption in both his musicianship and his compositions propels an unmistakable sound that is free-flowing, steadfast ...

Chico Hamilton: Juniflip

by Marcia Hillman
October 10, 2006

What is it with jazz drummers? They seem to go on forever like the Energizer bunny. Chico Hamilton celebrates his 85th birthday this year with four new releases, of which Juniflip is a swinger with guests George Bohanon (trombone), Jimmy Cheatham (bass trombone), and vocalists Bill Henderson and Arthur Lee (frontman for the band LOVE) augmenting Hamilton's working group, known as Euphoria: Cary Denigris (guitar), Paul Ramsey (Fender bass) and Evan Schwam (flute, tenor and soprano sax). ...