Concord Records Discography:
Heavy Juice – Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen CCD-2258
At Last – Scott Hamilton and Gene Harris SACD-1036
Double Play – Scott Hamilton, Jake Hanna and Dave McKenna CCD-2123
From the Beginning CCD-2117
Jazz Signatures CCC-4939
Late Night Christmas CCD-4922
Ballad Essentials CCD-4885
Blues, Bop & Ballads CCD-4866
The Red Door – Scott Hamilton & Bucky Pizzarelli Remember Zoot Sims CCD-4799
The Concord Jazz Heritage Series CCD-4819
Christmas Love Song CCD-4771
After Hours CCD-4755
My Romance CCD-4710
The Concord Jazz Festival All-Stars CCD-7004
Live at the Brecon Jazz Festival CCD-4649
Organic Duke CCD-4623
East of the Sun CCD-4583
With Strings CCD-4538
Groovin’ High (with Ken Peplowski & Spike Robinson) CCD-4509
Race Point CCD-4492
At Last (with Gene Harris) CCD-4434
Radio City CCD-4428
Plays Ballads CCD-4386
It’s A Wonderful World (with the Charlie Byrd Trio) CCD-4374
Swingin’ Sweet (with Maxine Sullivan) CCD-4351
A Sound Investment (with Flip Phillips) CCD-4334
The Right Time CCD-4311
Major League CCD-4305
Soft Lights & Sweet Music (with Gerry Mulligan) CCD-4300
A Sailboat in the Moonlight (with Ruby Braff) CCD-4296
Uptown (with Maxine Sullivan) CCD-4288
A First (with Ruby Braff) CCD-4274
The Second Set CCD-4254
In Concert CCD-4233
Close Up CCD-4197
Tour de Force (with Al Cohn and Buddy Tate) CCD-4172
Tenorshoes CCD-4127
No Bass Hit (with Dave McKenna and Jake Hanna) CCD-4097
With Scott’s Band in New York City (with Warren Vaché CCD-4070
2 CCD-4061
Is A Good Wind Who Is Blowing Us No Ill CCD-4042
A complete anomaly, tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton emerged on the music scene at the peak of the fusion movement with a sound and sensibility steeped in the Swing era tradition of such tenor giants as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Chu Berry and Don Byas. In 1977 (the year that Weather Report dominated the airwaves with Joe Zawinul’s monster hit, “Birdland”), the 22-year-old Rhode Island native snuck in under the radar with his cryptically titled debut as a leader, Scott Hamilton Is a Good Wind Who Is Blowing Us No Ill (a title inspired by a line from the eminent jazz critic Leonard Feather, who was paraphrasing the lyric to Billie Holiday’s lament “Ill Wind” in praising the young saxophonist). Against all odds, and a deluge of synth-dominated music that prevailed at that time, Hamilton carved out a straight ahead niche for himself with his warm, lyrical tenor lines and effortless sense of swing. Years before Wynton Marsalis came along to spearhead the Young Lions movement of the 1980s, Hamilton was already rekindling an interest in acoustic jazz with his own purist approach to the music.
With uncanny consistency, he has continued to release high quality, ever-swinging albums as a leader since that auspicious debut 28-years-ago. With the exception of two early albums for Famous Door Records and Progressive, he has recorded exclusively with Concord Records since 1977. Among more than 30 Concord releases, Hamilton has recorded with such heavyweights as Gerry Mulligan (1986’s Soft Lights and Sweet Music), Tommy Flanagan (1997’s After Hours), and Charlie Byrd (It’s a Wonderful World). Other frequent collaborators have included trumpeter Ruby Braff, pianist Dave McKenna and drummer Jake Hanna while he has also engaged in blowing sessions with fellow tenor saxophonists such as Al Cohn and Buddy Tate (1981’s Tour de Force), Flip Phillips (1987’s A Sound Investment), Spike Robinson and Ken Peplowski (1991’s Groovin’ High) and Harry Allen (2004’s Heavy Juice). Today, at age 50, Hamilton is as unswerving in his aesthetic as ever. A pure jazzman through and through, he remains that reliably swinging player with the pure tone, fluid delivery and uncanny sense of lyricism.
“I’ve always come at it from this place,” says Hamilton, who currently spends most of his time at home in London but travels to Tokyo and to the U.S as much as he can. “I listened to jazz from the time I was a baby and I first got into the music business when I was 14- or 15-years old, playing in blues bands. And I came over to jazz gradually through that music. "
Hamilton has remained a staunch advocate for a swinging style of jazz for the past thirty years. As he explains, “A lot of the first saxophone players that I listened to when I was developing were older guys. Actually, they were about the same age as I am now...guys like Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis. The repertoire that they played was the thing that I followed then and continue to follow today. So I never really had any experience playing either modal music or any kind of fusion music. And I never went the music school route either, so that had something to do with me sticking to this particular style of playing.”
He adds, “Maybe it could’ve gone differently. There’s a lot of things I probably could’ve tried in my career, but I’ve taken the route that seemed right to me. I’d say it’s really a matter of what you get back from the music. If you’re not feeling it and you’re not feeling like you’re accomplishing something, then it would be a good reason to stop or change your direction.”
Maestro Scott Hamilton, it is a pleasure to be among your friends. Be invited for my "in a sentimental mood". Best wishes and until your next concert in Berlin. Best wishes Michael
Thanks for your kind words. I'll say hello to Marshall when I see him. I was in DC this past weekend and got to see Paul Langosch, he says hello as well.
Hi Scott, It was so nice to meet you in Newport Beach, CA the other day. You sounded great! You are a very sweet and gentle person. You really inspire me with your saxophone. Thanks, Bobbi :-)
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Hello Mr. Scott Hamilton! (from a fellow 2008 "54/54")! You are one of the smoothest tenor players I've ever heard. Best wishes for a fine new year filled with your great saxophone! Your fellow tenor man, Mike
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