Delightfully Modern - Chico Hamilton / Laurindo Almeida

Blue Sands

Tocata

Delightfully Modern

The Chico Hamilton Quintet

The Laurindo Almeida Quartet

Jazztone Society J 1264

1957

From the back cover: The Chico Hamilton Quintet

No chamber-music style group to come along during the past few years swings as much as does the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Its exciting drive, light, delicate, yet assured, and its highly original sound made it one of the highlights of last year's Newport Jazz Festival and subsequently the most talked-of new jazz group of 1956.

Credit for much of the swinging beat must go to its leader, for Chico Hamilton is a swinger from way back, a steady, tasty drummer who reflects the style and the teaching of his early idol, Jo Jones. Noted especially for his light, deft touch, Chico did bang away with big bands like Ellington's, Hampton's and Basie's before touring the world with Lena Horne as her accompanist, joining up with Gerry Mulligan as one fourth of his original quartet, working in Paramount Pictures' studios, and then forming his own group in 1955. Equally responsible for that group's great time is its bassist, Carson Smith, another quarter of the original Mulligan four who still in his early twenties, has received great acclaim from fellow-musicians. Say Chico, who used to work alongside the greatest of all bassists, the late Jimmy Blanton, "I get everything I could possibly want from Carson Smith."

As for the unique sound of the quintet, credit must be divided equally between its three remaining members. Fred Katz's cello is, of course, the most obvious innovation. Originally suggested the use of the cello to Hamilton who immediately seized upon the idea. Katz is also an arranger, so that his contributions to the group include not only his rich, sonorous sounds, but also many of its ingenious voicings.

Buddy Collette, who plays the dextrous flute and clarinet, started out as a jazz musician, playing with numerous small West Coast outfits, before he went into the studios, working on shows like Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life and doing quite a bit of teaching of reed instruments as well. It was Hamilton who enticed him back to jazz, and it is doubtful that Chico could have uncovered a musician with a better mixture of jazz understanding and technical mastery than Collette.

Jim Hall, the group's studious-looking guitarist, obviously is an admirer of the late Charlie Christian, as his clean, incisive playing attests. Like the other members of the quintet, he is also an extremely well-trained and articulate musician, whose feeling for jazz and ability to blend with the other instruments helps to create the superbly polished, swinging sounds that emanate from this record.

The Laurindo Almeida Quartet

The sound of a classically-trained guitarist, playing finger-style without a pick on an unamplified instrument is certainly a rarity in jazz. And it becomes a most delightful rarity when played by an artist as superb as Laurindo Almeida.

This is the guitarist who is probably best-known among jazz fans for his work with Stan Kenton's band in the late forties. But even then he was no new-comer to music, in general, for he had already achieved fame as an outstanding classical guitarist in his native country of Brazil. To Kenton must go the credit for adding the sound of this instrument to modern jazz. And to Laurindo, himself, must go all the accolades for drawing such gorgeous sounds from his guitar, pure and legitimate sounds that are still much in the jazz idiom.

Equally responsible for this group's delightful jazz is one of America's great young alto saxists. Bud Shank, who, after having attended the University of North Carolina, played in the big bands of Charlie Barnet and Kenton, and then became one of the leading lights of the growing West Coast jazz movement. Also a flutist of rare jazz abilities, Bud has won numerous popularity polls.

The group's rhythm section is comprised of two musicians also closely associated with the growth of West Coast jazz. Bassist Harry Babasin played in the Benny Goodman and Woody Herman band, also dabbled around with jazz cello, worked in Hollywood's studios and even started his own record company, Nocturne Records. Roy Harte, formerly the drummer with such big swing bands as Les Brown's and Boyd Raeburn's has been one of the leaders in the move to utilize more complex rhythms in jazz, as his use of numerous South American beats on this record shows so well.

The Chico Hamilton Quintet

A Nice Day

My Funny Valentine

Blue Sands

The Sage

The Morning After

The Laurindo Almeida Quartet

Carinsos

Tocata

Hazardous

Nono

Noctambulism

Blue Baiao