BN-LA-520-G

Chico Hamilton - Peregrinations

Released - 1975

Recording and Session Information

A&R Studios, NYC, July 9, 1975;
overdubs recorded Sound Factory West, Los Angeles, CA, August, 1975
Arthur Blythe, alto sax; Arnie Lawrence, tenor, soprano sax; Joe Beck, Barry Finnerty, electric guitar; Steve Turre, electric bass, trombone; Chico Hamilton, drums, percussion, arranger; Abdullah, congas, bongos, percussion; + overdubs: Jerry Peters, piano, electric piano; Charlotte Politte, synthesizer programs; Julia Tillman Waters, Luther Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters, vocals; Keg Johnson, arranger.

16241-2 Little Lisa
16242-4 V-O
16243-4 Peregrinations

A&R Studios, NYC, July 10, 1975;
overdubs recorded Sound Factory West, Los Angeles, CA, August, 1975
Arthur Blythe, alto sax; Arnie Lawrence, tenor, soprano sax; Joe Beck, Barry Finnerty, electric guitar; Steve Turre, electric bass, trombone; Chico Hamilton, drums, percussion, arranger; Abdullah, congas, bongos, percussion; + overdubs: Jerry Peters, piano, electric piano; Charlotte Politte, synthesizer programs; Julia Tillman Waters, Luther Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters, vocals; Keg Johnson, arranger.

16244-7 The Morning Side Of Love
16245-1 Andy's Walk
16246-3 Abdullah And Abraham
16247-1 Space For Stacy
16248-1 Sweet Dreams
16249-2 It's About That Time
16409-1 On And Off

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
V-O	Steve Turre	Aug-75
The Morning Side Of Love	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
Abdullah And Abraham	Arnie Lawrence	Aug-75
Andy's Walk	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
Peregrinations	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
Side Two
Sweet Dreams	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
Little Lisa	Steve Turre	Aug-75
Space For Stacy	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
On And Off	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75
It's About That Time	Chico Hamilton	Aug-75

Liner Notes

CHICO, CHICO, WHERE YOU BEEN?

I haven't seen Chico Hamilton in twenty years. I've been buying the •records all along. though. And you know what? He still sounds good. Never know what he's going to be doing. I remember when he had the group with the cello and got a big reputation for playing so good with the brushes. Then he had a wild band with Eric Dolphy. People hadn't heard what he was doing for a few years. Disappeared again. Then he had that band with Charles Lloyd. Now he's got this band. mixing up that rock and Blues and Jazz with an artistic flair That guy's a real professional. Listening to him, you'll stay young, because he's always there. This new band. that saxophone player, all that music and nothing boring, yeah. you can bet he's a professional.

CHICO HAMILTON FAN at Donte's. North Hollywood. California.
August 1975

One of the most interesting and noticeable things about the crossings of various styles and musical properties and repertoires so prevalent in the music of today is that there are still those around who are capable of impressing their individual identities on whatever points of departure they use and are able to introduce new and refreshing stylists at the same time. There are not many who are able to bring this off at all, most come off as but shallow and apparently distorted imitations of their former selves, and the music they play is nothing more than a series of places in the employment line of current popular trends.

Chico Hamilton, a true die-hard gladiator on the contemporary scene is not one of those, he is a man who has maintained his identity, sustained a sense of adventure and introduced more than a few very interesting musical combinations and has given an initial national spotlight to a major innovator in the process, Mr. Eric Dolphy.

What he has to say about his present group and direction is this, "You can't pidgeon-hole this music. You know why you can't? Because it's everything, It is everything because music is everything. What you feel is everything. Feeling has no style. it just makes itself manifest; and if you're a true musician. you follow those manifestations. Each period of music and life has its own feeling and its own music. That's what we're doing - expressing feeling, the moods of these times and other times as well. Our music says. "NOW!" We express these things with dynamics, variety, changes of pace. We work hard at this because the job of the musician is to keep people interested. You want to know what bad music is? I'll tell you what bad music is: Bad music is boring music. You have to have a sound, a solid sound to build off of, and the rhythms, they help give substance to the sound because rhythms make you feel in a way that nothing else can. Our band uses a lot of different rhythms, and we combine them in a contemporary but fresh way?'

Heard more than once during their recent engagement at Donte's, the band came up to Hamilton's statement. The music was diverse and almost every sound spun off the trap drums of the leader and the percussion of Abdullah. Pacing, changes of dynamics and texture, varied instrumental blends and showcases for the different soloists were what the music was about, using everything from house-rocking backbeats to an hilarious (yet loving) version of Cherry Red sung by Hamilton in a fashion that quavered with successful satire in his imitation of Eddie "Clean Head" Vinson. That, the sparkling Latin interludes and the solos by all concerned made it a very entertaining evening of music streamlined through the modes of the present but mixed into a unique brew by a well-experienced professional, as the fan quoted above pointed out. Asked what he intends to do, the drummer replies: "Keep playing my ass off. This is the best band I've had in a long time. They're good players and good writers and make me feel fresh every night. No problems."

There shouldn't be, Not only is the musicianship of a very high quality, but the introduction of Arthur Blythe is something worth more than brief mention. Of Blythe, Hamilton says, "He is the best saxophone player I've had since Eric Dolphy." I would agree, Blythe is one of the finest players on the contemporary scene, a musician at home in almost any context, Hamilton has definitely found himself another major voice.

Finally, though, it is all, everything you hear, on record or in person, about the kind of career Chico Hamilton has sustained for himself throughout the years — one of adventurousness, discovery and a continual search for the unique. It is, too, his first record for a major label in three years and one that seems right in line for the kind of popularity a musician of his experience, discipline and individuality deserves. It is up-to-date, well-paced and brimming with new talents you will hear about as long as you have heard about the talent of its leader, Chico Hamilton, a die-hard.

Stanley Crouch