Chico Hamilton’s “Twelve Tones of Love”


Here is a new jazz release that features 18 tight songs all over the stylistic map, from moody meditations to funky blues to soulful swing. If you didn’t know who created it, you might guess it was a young composer trying his or her hand at different genres—yet there is a notable confidence to the songs and a relaxed skill to the presentation. No wonder: this is Chico Hamilton’s latest album. At 88 years old, with more than 50 albums to his name, the master drummer may be living proof that creativity keeps you young.

Chico Hamilton began his career in the 1940s as sidemen to greats such as Lester Young and Billie Holiday. He became a band leader in the ‘50s (making a brief but memorable appearance in the all-time-great movie Sweet Smell of Success). He has worked with greats from Eric Dolphy to Larry Coryell, and he has never slowed down.

The very fine “Twelve Tones of Love,” on the Joyous Shout! label features Hamilton doing what he does best: assembling talent both young and old, composing songs and laying down flawless rhythm for the band. Fifteen of the 18 songs are new and written by Hamilton. Unlike many marquee-name drummers, Hamilton doesn’t put his drums out front. There are no drummer solos here; no crashing intrusions; just an intelligent, shifting tempo that both drives and complements the other players.

While a few of the songs on “Twelve Tones of Love” have an elegiac feel, more of them are playful and teasing. Hamilton loves to shift moods with rhythm changes, and somehow (years of practice, no doubt) makes it always feel just right. The players he’s assembled here take turns in the spotlight and are clearly having loads of fun. Some of the highlights on this album are “Nonchalant,” a quiet, expressive blues; “Penthouse A,” a laid-back bossa nova vamp; and “Steinway,” with a cool Afro-Cuban rhythm.

To do some research for this review, I checked out the Wikipedia entry on Chico Hamilton. Under “genre,” it lists: cool jazz, west coast jazz, progressive jazz, soul-jazz, hard-bop, post-bop, crossover jazz, jazz funk and boogaloo. That about covers it, and with the exception perhaps of boogaloo, you can hear it all on “Twelve Tones of Love.”

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April 27th, 2009
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