Chico Hamilton - 4 new releases!

[ejp626]

I was just in Dusty Groove on a very short trip to Chicago and picked up two promo copies of Chico Hamilton's new CDs -- Juniflip and Believe. If you can believe it, he has 4 CDs coming out in 2006. The other two are Heritage and 6th Ave. Romp. I'm still deciding what I think. They don't grab me by the neck and shake me, but they seem pretty good. Maybe a third of the tracks have vocals.

I have to admit, I don't think I have heard of the people in his "Euphoria" ensemble: Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on bass, along with Evan Schwam on flute, tenor & soprano saxes, Karolina Strassmayer on flute, alto & soprano saxes, Andrew Hadro on flute, alto & baritone saxes, and Jeremy Carlstedt on percussion.

Anyway, I still think it is terrific that Chico, who turns 85 this year, is still active and has found a new label - Joyous Shout. He is doing a bit of touring as well, mostly in New York. Here are some details from the Joyous Shout website: Chico live dates

I'd be glad to hear what others think, or if you have heard the other two. I'll probably spin them a few more times and have more detailed comments later.

[kh1958]

I was just in Dusty Groove on a very short trip to Chicago and picked up two promo copies of Chico Hamilton's new CDs -- Juniflip and Believe. If you can believe it, he has 4 CDs coming out in 2006. The other two are Heritage and 6th Ave. Romp. I'm still deciding what I think. They don't grab me by the neck and shake me, but they seem pretty good. Maybe a third of the tracks have vocals.

I have to admit, I don't think I have heard of the people in his "Euphoria" ensemble: Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on bass, along with Evan Schwam on flute, tenor & soprano saxes, Karolina Strassmayer on flute, alto & soprano saxes, Andrew Hadro on flute, alto & baritone saxes, and Jeremy Carlstedt on percussion.

Anyway, I still think it is terrific that Chico, who turns 85 this year, is still active and has found a new label - Joyous Shout. He is doing a bit of touring as well, mostly in New York. Here are some details from the Joyous Shout website: Chico live dates

I'd be glad to hear what others think, or if you have heard the other two. I'll probably spin them a few more times and have more detailed comments later.

Cary Denigris, Eric Person and a bassist whose name is escaping me were with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society in the mid-1980s (When Colours Play and Texas)--after that edition of the Decoding Society broke up, Chico Hamilton hired them intact as "Euphoria" and has made a number of excellent recordings over the years (on Soul Note and other labels). At some point Paul Ramsey replaced the original bassist, and more recently Eric Person left the group. In other words, Cary Denigris has been Chico Hamilton's guitarist for nearly 20 years, I believe.