This is glorious swinging stuff, melodic and tuneful, which is just what anyone familiar with Scott Hamilton would expect.
Stunt Records STUCD24072 (CD) STULP24071 (LP)
Scott Hamilton (tenor saxophone); Jan Lundgren (piano); Hans Backenroth (bass); Kristian Leth (drums)
More proof if needed that jazz on CD is alive and swinging in Scandinavia. American tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton is frequently heard in the UK, often at the Pizza Express venues, backed by top end British musicians, but this album was recorded in Gothenberg, Sweden for Danish label Stunt Records, with Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren, Swedish bassist Hans Backenroth and Danish drummer Kristian Leth.
The object was to mark Hamilton’s 70th birthday with irrefutable evidence that he is playing better than ever – and still doing what he has always done so well, innovate with the warm flavour of his hero sax greats, notably Ben Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins.
The new album is a 10-track retrospective dedicated not only to sax giants but the wide variety of jazz who’s-who musicians that Hamilton has played with and admired since his first recording date in 1977. All but one of the tracks, the Hamilton original ‘Big Tate’, dedicated to Buddy Tate, are jazz standards. I can’t do better than quote Scott Hamilton’s own notes on his choices:
‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face’ (dedicated to Ruby Braff): Ruby loved the whole world of Broadway and musical theatre. His dream was to put together a show with real jazz musicians. He told me he saw a matinee of “My Fair Lady” when it opened in New York. He was still playing this song 20 years later when I first heard him.
‘The Maids of Cadiz’ (dedicated to Jimmie Rowles): I became friends with Jimmie back in the 70s at the China Song, a musicians’ bar on Broadway. I would see him playing with Zoot Sims or on duo gigs in the piano rooms in the Village. He was passionate about unusual songs that most guys didn’t play, and he coached a lot of us on how to play them.
‘Beyond the Bluebird’ (dedicated to Tommy Flanagan): I recorded with Tommy twice (once when I was very young and again in the ’90s). I wanted to play this tune of his because I really didn’t know how to play it the first time. The Bluebird was a club in Detroit.
Tune Up’ (dedicated to Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson): Cleanhead was a great singer and alto player, and this tune is his, but is traditionally credited to Miles Davis, who popularized it. I toured Europe with “Cleanhead” in 1980, along with Junior Mance. I learned as much off the bandstand as on.
‘Rockin’ Chair’ (dedicated to Roy Eldridge): Without Roy’s help, I never would have dared to move to New York when I did. He didn’t always approve of me, but the last time I spoke to him, he said he thought of me as his ‘product.’
Noblesse’ (for Gerry Mulligan): I never played gigs with Gerry, but it was a great experience to be on an album with him. He wrote most of the songs, and we rehearsed at his house for several days while I learned them. On the sheet for ‘Noblesse’, it said, ‘dedicated to Ray Noble.’
‘Big Tate’ (for Buddy Tate): Buddy and I worked together often in the 1970s and 80s before he teamed up with Al Grey. We had a good act and made a couple of albums. Big Tate was the name of an instant mashed potato back then.
‘Hey There’ (for Rosemary Clooney and Red Prysock): I was Rosemary’s sax player for 20 years. She was great to work for and one of the best singers ever. This song was a big hit for Rose, and we used to play it every night, but I had been playing it for years before I met her. I love Red Prysock’s recording of this song, which I had as a teenager in Providence.
‘Shadowland’ (for Dave McKenna and Peter Straub): Dave was not a composer, but he did write a few tunes. I think he really liked this one. The title came from our friend Peter Straub’s book.
‘On a Clear Day’ (for Illinois Jacquet and Jo Jones): I used to see Illinois, Jo, and Milt Buckner at a club north of Boston in the early 1970s. When they felt like playing, they were the best jazz band I ever saw. This is their arrangement.
This is glorious swinging stuff, melodic and tuneful, which is just what anyone familiar with Scott Hamilton would expect. Anyone listening to this album will surely be prompted to try and hear Hamilton live, whether it be again or for the first time. But by unhappy irony, release of this CD coincides with the news from Pizza Express that his recent planned series of Dean Street gigs had to be cancelled because he was recovering from heart surgery in Italy.
In Hamilton’s honour the club staged a series of nights with his regular Pizza trio John Pearce, Dave Green and Steve Brown backing fittingly stellar guests including Mark Nightingale on trombone, Alan Barnes on clarinet and saxophones, saxophonists Alex Clarke, Allison Neale, Robert Fowler and Karen Sharp, plus vibraphonist Nat Steele. That’s the kind of respect Scott Hamilton has earned from his peers.
Pizza Express Jazz Club sends “love and best wishes to Scott for a speedy recovery and looks forward to welcoming him back to the club next Easter”. I’ll drink to that and hope to catch Scott Hamilton at the rescheduled Easter gigs.
This is a great CD but there is one point I can’t not mention. I found the recorded sound of Hamilton’s tenor rather odd. Of course his tone is breathy – that’s what makes Scott Hamilton Scott Hamilton – but here it sounds to me a little thin and edgy, even rattly. Worried that it might be my aging ears or some recently installed audio gear, to blame, I asked a recording engineer with far better ears and equipment than me. His immediate response was that Hamilton’s sax is very closely miked and for some technical reason (high-pass (i.e. lo-cut) filtering) the sax sound lacks the low frequency weight that normally makes it sound so big and warm. The record company was asked about this did not get back.
So my advice is, before buying a disc, to give a few tracks a quick listen on free Spotify, starting with Accustomed to Her Face. The quality will be sub-CD but quite good enough to let you decide whether I am being an audio niggler.
