Andy Raphael Thomas Hamilton, MBE (26 March 1918 – 3 June 2012) was a Jamaican-born British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist and composer who migrated to the UK in 1949. He recorded his debut album in his early 70s.

Biography

Early years

Hamilton was born in

Port Maria Port Maria () is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, ...

, Jamaica, and learnt to play saxophone on a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

instrument. He formed his first band in 1928 with friends who played oil drums and Hamilton a bamboo sax, influenced by American musicians such as

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

and by the

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

-based bands of Redver Cook and Roy Coburn. He spent some time in the U.S., working as a cook and farm labourer, but also having short jazz residencies in Buffalo and

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. After returning to Jamaica, he worked as musical arranger for

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

at his hotel The Titchfield, and on his yacht the ''Zaka''.

Migration to the UK

Hamilton emigrated to the UK in 1949, arriving as a stowawayVal Wilmer
Andy Hamilton obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 11 June 2012. and eventually living and working in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. His day job was in a factory, while at night he played jazz — with his own group, the Blue Notes formed with fellow Jamaican pianist Sam Brown in 1953. Playing mainly local gigs and functions Hamilton also promoted regular gigs across the city booking an early

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

and numerous Jamaican bands at The Tower Ballroom, St John's Restaurant, Accafess, Porsche Club, Junction, Hyatt before establishing a regular weekly venue in Bearwood, inviting visiting musicians such as Joe Newman, Al Casey,

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

Harry Sweets Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz Trumpet, trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood studio musician, ...

, and David Murray. Hamilton fronted weekly gigs on Thursday nights at Bearwood Corks. His sons Graeme and Mark play trumpet and saxophone respectively.

Late career

In 1988 EndBoards Production produced a documentary called
Silver Shine
about Andy Hamilton's migration to the UK and the hurdles experienced in growing his music career, the changing musical taste of Windrush generation and their descendents. The documentary features Andy's Band the Blue Notes with lead vocalist Ann Scott; his first youth band The Blue Pearls, Tony Sykes, Millicent Stephenson nee Lindsay, his children Graeme and Mark. Having recovered from a diabetic coma in 1986, he celebrated his 70th birthday in 1988 playing at his regular venue, The Bear, and the gig was reviewed in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' by

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Life ...

. Following her recommendation, he was invited to perform at the Soho Jazz Festival, and in 1991 at the age of 73, Hamilton made his first ever recording with Nick Gold, ''Silvershine'' on World Circuit Records. It became the biggest selling UK Jazz Album of the Year, ''The Times'' Jazz Album of the Year, and one of the 50 Sony Recordings of the Year. It was followed two years later by ''Jamaica at Night''. These recordings led to concerts in

St Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Madri Madri (, ), also known as Madravati (, ), is a character in the ''Mahabharata'', one of the two major Mahakavya, Hindu epics. She is the princess from the Madra Kingdom and becomes the second wife of Pandu, the king of the Kuru kingdom, Kuru K ...

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the Jazz Cafe,

Ronnie Scott Ronnie Scott Order of the British Empire, OBE (born Ronald Schatt; 28 January 1927 – 23 December 1996) was a British jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district ...

's, and national tours. He continued to play regularly until his death, appearing at the Bearwood Corks Club in Birmingham, and monthly at Birmingham Symphony Hall. His 90th birthday concert was at a long sold-out

Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...

featured

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964) is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

Sonny Bradshaw Cecil "Sonny" Bradshaw CD (28 March 1926 – 10 October 2009), known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician", was a Jamaican bandleader, trumpeter, broadcaster, and promoter who was a major figure in Jamaican music for mo ...

, Myrna Hague, Lekan Babalola, Nana Tsiboe, son Mark and The Notebenders, a community music project he set up. Hamilton continued to play, teach and promote music even as he approached his 94th birthday. He died peacefully on 3 June 2012.

Awards and honors

In 1996 Hamilton was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts degree by

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, in 1999 he received a Millennium Fellowship for his work in Community Education, which has involved the establishment of The Ladywood Community School of Music. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

. On 30 January 2008, a few weeks before his 90th birthday, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doct ...

during a ceremony at Symphony Hall. The centenary of Hamilton's birth, and his continuing legacy, was celebrated at

, with a concert featuring The Notebenders Big Band and guests. The Birmingham Jazz venue Bearwood Corks Club was rebranded in 2012 as the Silvershine Jazz Club after Andy's most notable album Silvershine.

Discography

As leader

* ''Silvershine'' ( World Circuit, 1991) * ''Jamaica by Night'' (World Circuit, 1994) * ''Late and Live'' (Burton, 1997)

References

External links

*Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. ''Jazz: The Rough Guide''. *

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, West London. He was educa ...

— brief biography by John Bush for Allmusic
Andy Hamilton and the Blue Notes
— Bearwood Corks Club page
"My life of Jazz"
— BBC page *Central TV Documentary
Silver Shine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Andy 1918 births 2012 deaths Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom English jazz saxophonists British male saxophonists English jazz composers British male jazz composers English male composers Members of the Order of the British Empire Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Jamaican jazz saxophonists People from Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica World Circuit (record label) artists 20th-century British saxophonists