{"id":5270,"date":"2013-12-03T21:03:09","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T05:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=5270"},"modified":"2013-12-03T21:08:55","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T05:08:55","slug":"chico-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2013\/12\/chico-hamilton\/","title":{"rendered":"Chico Hamilton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HAMILTON\"<\/a>Chico Hamilton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drumming with the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet and his own small groups helped introduce many young listeners to jazz in the 1950s. His death last week in New York brought a reaction from Don Conner that may strike a chord with other Rifftides<\/em> readers.<\/p>\n

R.I.P.Chico Hamilton! Chico died recently at 92. This was meaningful to me as Chico’s group was the first live band I’d ever heard. I was 18 and L.A. was dark and mysterious. I was in the military. Needless to say, my naivet\u00c3\u00a9 was off the charts. I had never heard of Chico or his sidemen, whom I later found out consisted of Buddy Collete on reeds, Fred Katz on cello and probably jim Hall on guitar. Ah a little history and nostalgia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hamilton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s popularity, already high, broadened in 1958 after Bert Stern captured his quintet at the Newport Jazz Festival as part of the film Jazz on a Summer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day<\/em>. In this edition of the band, Hamilton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sidemen were Eric Dolphy, flute; John Pisano, guitar; Nat Gershman, cello; and Hal Gaylor, bass. In Buddy Collette\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s composition \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blue Sands,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the main feature is Hamilton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skill with mallets.<\/p>\n

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