Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton (September 20, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American jazz drummer and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

. He came to prominence as sideman for

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

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

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

. Hamilton became a bandleader, first with a quintet featuring the cello as a lead instrument, an unusual choice for a jazz band in the 1950s, and subsequently leading bands that performed cool jazz, post bop, and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

Biography

Early life and career

Foreststorn Hamilton was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, one of three brothers, one of whom was actor Bernie Hamilton. Hamilton started his career in a band with

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

, Illinois Jacquet,

Ernie Royal Ernest Andrew Royal (June 2, 1921 in Los Angeles, California – March 16, 1983 in New York City) 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 ...

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso before he had finished high school. Engagements with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, Slim & Slam, T-Bone Walker,

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 ...

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Nagasaki", "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "South ...

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

, Sammy Davis Jr.,

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

and

established his career. Hamilton appeared in '' You'll Never Get Rich'' (1941) as part of the backing group supporting

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

. Hamilton also performed on the soundtrack of the

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

film ''

Road to Bali ''Road to Bali'' is a 1952 American comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 19, 1952, the film is the sixth of the seven ''Road to ...'' movies. It wa ...

'' (1952).

Bandleader

He recorded his first album as leader in 1955 with George Duvivier (

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

) and

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early life Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 — a ...

(

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

) for Pacific Jazz. In the same year Hamilton formed an unusual quintet in Los Angeles, featuring

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, flute/saxes/clarinet,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

. The quintet has been described as one of the last important West Coast jazz bands. The original personnel included flutist/saxophonist/clarinetist 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. A version of the quintet including flutist Paul Horn was featured in the film '' Sweet Smell of Success'' (in which he has a small speaking role in a scene with

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

) in 1957 and one including Eric Dolphy appeared in the film ''

Jazz on a Summer's Day ''Jazz on a Summer's Day'' is a 1959 concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island (which took place from July 3 to July 6 of 1958). The film was directed by Aram Avakian who also edited the film. and was principal ...

'' (1960), set at the 1958

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

. John Fordham
"Chico Hamilton obituary"
''The Guardian'', November 26, 2013. Hamilton revamped his group in 1961 with Charles Lloyd,

Gábor Szabó Gábor István Szabó (March 8, 1936 – February 26, 1982) was a Hungarian-American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock, and Music of Hungary, Hungarian music. Early years Szabó was born in Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. He bega ...

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon Jr. (August 7, 1937 – November 8, 2024) was an American jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. Biography In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, ...

and Albert Stinson, playing what has been described as chamber jazz, with "a moderate avant-gardism." The group recorded for Columbia,

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

and Impulse Records and also recorded the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the industrial film ''Litho'' in 1962, the first American film to be shown behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political 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 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

. Hamilton formed a commercial and film production company in 1965, and went on to score the feature films '' Repulsion'' (1965), '' Mr. Ricco'' (1975), '' Coonskin'' (1975), '' By Design'' (1982), the television programs ''Portrait of Willie Mays'' and '' Gerald McBoing-Boing'', and scored hundreds of commercials for TV and radio. In 1986 Hamilton formed his sextet Chico Hamilton and the Young Alto's featuring Kenneth Lampl, Eric Person and Marc Bernstein. The group performed at the 1986 JVC Jazz Festival, the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

, and

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Later career and death

In 2001, Hamilton released ''Foreststorn'' featuring Euphoria with Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on bass, Eric Lawrence on alto and soprano saxes and Evan Schwam on tenor sax, alongside notable guests. In August of that year, he performed ''My Funny Valentine: A Tribute to Chico Hamilton'' at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. 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, he was awarded a ''NEA Jazz Master Fellowship''. In December 2006, Congress confirmed the nomination of Hamilton to the President's Council on the Arts. In 2007, he received a ''Living Legend Jazz Award'' as part of The Kennedy Center's Jazz in Our Time Festival, as well as being awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts from

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

. In 2006, Hamilton released ''Joyous Shout!'' in celebration of his 85th birthday. In 2007, he released ''Hamiltonia'', sampling his original compositions from the four albums released in 2006. Over the years, Hamilton 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 his 1980 Elektra album, ''Nomad''. In 2002, a track titled "For Mods Only" from his 1966

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positive critiques ...

album '' The Dealer'', was included on the Thievery Corporation's ''Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi''. In 2006, Rong Music released the 12-inch vinyl ''Kerry's Caravan'' by Mudd and Hamilton, with remixes from Ray Mang. Several remixes of Hamilton's recordings were released in the late 2000s. He released ''Twelve Tones of Love'' on Joyous Shout! in 2009. In March 2011, he had a long recording session, resulting in 28 new tracks with his Euphoria group. Following a health setback in 2010, he and the group began weekly rehearsals at Hamilton's Penthouse A; which brought together the material which would comprise ''Revelation'', an 11-track CD, released in 2011. For the Dutch Radio Westerwolde he made a Radio Jingle for The Toppyjazz Radio Show. Hamilton died aged 92 on November 25, 2013, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Discography

As leader

*1953–54: ''Chico Hamilton Trio'' ( Pacific Jazz LP-17) 0" LP *1955: '' Chico Hamilton Quintet featuring Buddy Collette'' (Pacific Jazz) *1955: '' The Original Chico Hamilton Quintet'' (World Pacific) – released 1960 *1955: ''Live at the Strollers'' (

Fresh Sound Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded be ...

) – released 2008 *1956: '' Chico Hamilton Quintet in Hi Fi'' (Pacific Jazz) *1956: '' Chico Hamilton Trio'' (Pacific Jazz) – reissue of LP-17 plus 4 additional tracks *1957: '' Chico Hamilton Quintet'' (Pacific Jazz) *1957: '' Sweet Smell of Success'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

) – film soundtrack *1957: ''Delightfully Modern'' (Jazztone) – split album with the Laurindo Almeida Quartet; Pacific Jazz material *1958: '' South Pacific in Hi-Fi'' (World Pacific) *1958: '' Chico Hamilton Trio Introducing Freddie Gambrell'' (World Pacific) *1958: '' The Original Ellington Suite'' (Pacific Jazz) with Eric Dolphy – released 2000 *1958: '' The Chico Hamilton Quintet with Strings Attached'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) *1958: '' Gongs East!'' (Warner Bros.) *1959: '' Ellington Suite'' (World Pacific) *1959: '' The Three Faces of Chico'' (Warner Bros.) *1959: '' That Hamilton Man'' (Sesac) *1960: '' Bye Bye Birdie-Irma La Douce'' ( Columbia) *1960 '' The Chico Hamilton Special'' (Columbia) *1962: '' Drumfusion'' (Columbia) *1962: '' Passin' Thru'' ( Impulse!) *1963: '' A Different Journey'' (

) *1963: '' Man from Two Worlds'' (Impulse!) *1965: '' Chic Chic Chico'' (Impulse!) *1966: '' El Chico'' (Impulse!) *1966: '' The Further Adventures of El Chico'' (Impulse!) *1966: '' The Dealer'' (Impulse!) *1968: '' The Gamut'' ( Solid State) *1969: '' The Head Hunters'' (Solid State) *1970: '' El Exigente: The Demanding One'' (

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...

/RCA) *1973: ''The Master'' (Enterprise/

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

) *1974: ''Montreux Festival'' (Stax) – live album shared with

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

and

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

*1975: ''

Peregrinations ''Peregrinations'' is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1975 and originally released on the Blue Note label.

'' ( Blue Note) *1976: ''Chico Hamilton and the Players'' (Blue Note) *1977: ''Catwalk'' ( Mercury) *1979: ''Reaching for the Top'' (Nautilus) *1980: ''Nomad'' ( Elektra) *1988: ''Euphoria'' (Swallow) *1989: ''The Original Chico Hamilton Quintet: Reunion'' ( Soul Note) – released 1991 *1990: ''Transfusion'' (Studio West/V.S.O.P.) – recorded 1962 *1991: ''Arroyo'' (Soul Note) *1993: ''Trio!'' (Soul Note) *1993: '' Dreams Come True'' (Joyous Shout! JS10010) with Andrew Hill – released 2008 *1994: ''My Panamanian Friend (The Music of Eric Dolphy)'' (Soul Note) *1994: ''Dancing to a Different Drummer'' (Soul Note) *1997: ''The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of the Chico Hamilton Quintet'' (

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

) -LP/6-CD box set*1999: ''Timely'' (All Points Jazz) *2001: ''Foreststorn'' ( Koch) *2002: ''Thoughts Of...'' (Koch) *2006: ''Juniflip'' (Joyous Shout! JS10001) *2006: ''Believe'' (Joyous Shout! JS10002) *2006: ''6th Avenue Romp'' (Joyous Shout! JS10003) *2006: ''Heritage'' (Joyous Shout! JS10004) *2007: ''Mysterious Maiden'' (Joyous Shout! JS10005) 2" single*2007: ''The Alternative Dimensions of El Chico'' (Joyous Shout! JS10006) D*2007: ''The Alternative Dimensions of El Chico'' (Joyous Shout! JS10007) -LP*2007: ''Hamiltonia'' (Joyous Shout! JS10008) *2008: ''It's About Time'' (Joyous Shout! JS10009) P/CD*2008: ''Live @ Artpark'' (Joyous Shout! JS10011) *2009: ''Twelve Tones of Love'' (Joyous Shout! JS10012) *2011: ''Euphoric'' (Joyous Shout! JS10014) *2011: ''Revelation'' (Joyous Shout! JS10015) *2013: ''The Inquiring Mind'' (Joyous Shout! JS10016)

As sideman

With

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

*'' Louis Armstrong and His Friends'' (Flying Dutchman/Amsterdam, 1970) With Buddy Collette *'' Tanganyika'' (Dig, 1956) With Paul Horn *'' House of Horn'' (Dot, 1957) - credited as "Forest Thorn" With Fred Katz *'' Zen: The Music of Fred Katz'' (Pacific Jazz, 1957) *'' Soul° Cello'' (Decca, 1958) With

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

*'' Grand Encounter'' (Pacific Jazz, 1956) With

*'' Gerry Mulligan Quartet Volume 1'' (Pacific Jazz, 1952) *'' Gene Norman Presents the Original Gerry Mulligan Tentet and Quartet'' (GNP, 1953 997 *'' California Concerts'' (Pacific Jazz, 1955) With

Ken Nordine Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of Word Jazz, word jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many advertising, commercial advertis ...

*'' Word Jazz'' (Dot, 1957) - credited as "Forest Horn" With

*'' Spellbinder'' (Impulse!, 1966)

References

External links

* *
Chico Hamilton profile
drummercafe.com; accessed July 15, 2015.
Profile
dromnyc.com; accessed July 15, 2015.
Obituary
theguardian.com, November 26, 2013; accessed July 15, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Chico 1921 births 2013 deaths African-American jazz musicians American jazz drummers Cool jazz drummers Crossover jazz drummers Hard bop drummers Jazz-funk drummers Post-bop drummers Soul-jazz drummers West Coast jazz drummers Jazz musicians from Los Angeles 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Drummers from Los Angeles American male drummers NEA Jazz Masters