Drummerworld left arrow drummer page gallery
Chico Hamilton
September 21, 1921 - November 25, 2013
next drummer Drummerworld


Chico Hamilton Drummerworld





Chico Hamilton Drummerworld
Chico Hamilton

Chico Hamilton, a subtle and creative drummer, will probably always be remembered for the series of quintets that he led during 1955-1965 and for his ability as a talent scout than for his fine drumming.

Hamilton first played drums while in high school with the many fine young players (including Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, and Charles Mingus) who were in Los Angeles at the time.

He made his recording debut with Slim Gaillard, was house drummer at Billy Berg's, toured with Lionel Hampton, and served in the military (1942-1946). In 1946, Hamilton worked briefly with Jimmy Mundy, Count Basie, and Lester Young (recording with Young). He toured as Lena Horne's drummer (on and off during 1948-1955), and gained recognition for his work with the original Gerry Mulligan piano-less quartet (1952-1953).

In 1955, Hamilton put together his first quintet, a chamber jazz group with the reeds of Buddy Collette, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Carson Smith, and cellist Fred Katz. One of the last important West Coast jazz bands, the Chico Hamilton Quintet was immediately popular and appeared in a memorable sequence in 1958's Jazz on a Summer's Day and the Hollywood film The Sweet Smell of Success. The personnel changed over the next few years (with Paul Horn and Eric Dolphy heard on reeds, cellist Nate Gershman, guitarists John Pisano and Dennis Budimir, and several bassists passing through the group) but it retained its unusual sound.

By 1961, Charles Lloyd was on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo was the new guitarist, and soon the cello was dropped in favor of trombone (Garnett Brown and later George Bohanon), giving the group an advanced hard bop style.

In 1966, Chico Hamilton started composing for commercials and the studios and he broke up his quintet. However, he continued leading various groups, playing music that ranged from the avant-garde to erratic fusion and advanced hard bop. Such up-and-coming musicians as Larry Coryell (1966), Steve Potts (1967), Arthur Blythe, Steve Turre (on bass, surprisingly), and Eric Person (who played in Hamilton's '90s group Euphoria) were among the younger players he helped discover.

In 1989, Chico Hamilton had a recorded reunion with the original members of his 1955 quintet (with Pisano in Hall's place), and in the 1990s he made a number of records for Soul Note.

He continued playing gigs and recording throughout the 2000s, releasing four albums in 2006 for the label Joyous Shout! in celebration of his 85th birthday.

Chico Hamilton died in Manhattan on November 25, 2013; he was 92 years old.

His last album, The Inquiring Mind, recorded shortly before his passing, was released in early 2014.



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton
Drum Improvisation
from: Dancing To A Different Drummer





Chico Hamilton Drummerworld © Todd Boebel



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld





Chico Hamilton Drummerworld © www.chicohamiltondrums.com



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton
Groovin' with Eric Person

from: Dancing To A Different Drummer






Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton DrummerworldChico Hamilton - Gerry Mulligan - Chet Atkins



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton
Mallet Improvisation

from: Dancing To A Different Drummer






Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton
Brush Improvisation

from: Dancing To A Different Drummer






Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld© Paul La Raia



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld© Linda Vrtoogiani



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld




Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld



Chico Hamilton Drummerworld thanks for your visit!






CLICK:
the 500 Top Drummers:
Matt Abts

Alex Acuna

Daniel Adair
Chris Adler
Morgan Agren
Airto Moreira Drummerworld
Airto

Tommy Aldridge
Tim Alexander
Rashied Ali
Don Alias
Carl Allen
Tony Allen
Cliff Almond
Barry Altschul
Robby Ameen
Scott Amendola
Animal
Charly Antolini - Drummerworld
Charly Antolini

Carmine Appice - Drummerworld
Carmine Appice

Vinny Appice
Kenny Aronoff - Drummerworld
Kenny Aronoff

Joe Ascione
Mick Avory
Marcel Bach
Manolo Badrena
Colin Bailey
Donald Bailey
Ginger Baker - Drummerworld
Ginger Baker

Jeff Ballard
Joe La Barbera
Danny Barcelona
travis Barker - Drummerworld
Travis Barker

Barriemore Barlow
Joey Baron
Ranjit Barot
Julio Barreto
Ray Bauduc
Eddie Bayers
Marcus Baylor
Frank Beard
Carter Beauford
Bruce Becker
Poogie Bell
Louie Bellson - Drummerworld
Louie Bellson

Frank Bellucci
Brian Bennett
Han Bennink
Joe Bergamini
Tal Bergman
Jon Bermuda Schwartz
Ignacio Berroa
Denzil Best
Pete Ray Biggin
Curt Bisquera
Gregg Bissonette
Jason Bittner
Roger Biwandu
Dave Black
James Black
Jim Black
Cindy Blackman
John Blackwell - Drummerworld
John Blackwell

Brady Blade
Brian Blade - Drummerworld
Brian Blade

Hal Blaine - Drummerworld
Hal Blaine

Art Blakey - Drummerworld
Art Blakey

Jason Bonham
John Bonham - Drummerworld
John Bonham

Gergo Borlai
Paul Bostaph
Terry Bozzio
Paulo Braga
Dirk Brand
Jimmy Branly
Tom Brechtlein - Drummerworld
Tom Brechtlein

Amir Bresler
Don Brewer
Gerry Brown
Bill Bruford - Drummerworld
Bill Bruford

Ronald Bruner Jr.
Jack Bruno
Mark Brzezicki
Roy Burns
Ronnie Burrage
William Calhoun
Clayton Cameron
Matt Cameron
Gorden Campbell
Teddy Campbell - Drummerworld
Teddy Campbell

Tommy Campbell
Emmanuelle Caplette
Danny Carey
Keith Carlock - Drummerworld
Keith Carlock

Bun E. Carlos
Karen Carpenter
Terri Lyne Carrington
Bernhard Castiglioni
Joey Castillo
Lenny Castro
Deen Castronovo
Big Sid Catlett
André Ceccarelli
Dave DiCenso
Gary Chaffee
Matt Chamberlain
Jimmy Chamberlin
Dennis Chambers - Drummerworld
Dennis Chambers

Joe Chambers
Ndugu Chancler
Jim Chapin
Gary Chester
Jon Christensen
Kenny Clare
Greg Clark
Mike Clark
Kenny Clarke - Drummerworld
Kenny Clarke

Doug Clifford
Tommy Clufetos
Jimmy Cobb - Drummerworld
Jimmy Cobb

Billy Cobham - Drummerworld
Billy Cobham

Vinnie Colaiuta - Drummerworld
Vinnie Colaiuta

Cozy Cole - Drummerworld
Cozy Cole

Chris Coleman
Cora Coleman-Dunham
Tony Coleman
Phil Collins
Bobby Colomby
Aaron Comess
Luis Conte
Tre Cool
Ray Cooper
Stewart Copeland - Drummerworld
Stewart Copeland

Kirk Covington
René Creemers
Adam Cruz
Sylvia Cuenca
Abe Cunningham
Mickey Curry
Andrew Cyrille
Nick D'Virgilio
Paulinho Da Costa
Duduka Da Fonseca
Brann Dailor
Dino Danelli
Zach Danziger
Flo Dauner
Chris Daddy Dave - Drummerworld
Chris "Daddy" Dave

Alan Dawson - Drummerworld
Alan Dawson

Mikkey Dee
Barrett Deems
Jimmy DeGrasso
Adam Deitch
Jack DeJohnette - Drummerworld
Jack DeJohnette

Kenwood Dennard
John Densmore
Wim DeVries
Dave DiCenso
Rick Dior
Marko Djordjevic
Warren "Baby" Dodds
Peter Donald
Virgil Donati
Gabor Dornyei
Paul Douglas
Brian Downey
Hamid Drake
Bernie Dresel
Martin Drew
The Drumbassadors
Billy Drummond
Aynsley Dunbar
Sly Dunbar
Frankie Dunlop
Mario Duplantier
Bobby Durham
Sheila E.
Phil Ehart
Dave Elitch
Paul Elliott
Sonny Emory
Bertram Engel
Peter Erskine - Drummerworld
Peter Erskine

Dom Famularo
Pierre Favre
Steve Ferrone
Anton Fig
Vera Figueiredo
Sammy Figueroa
Larry Finn
Eric Fischer
Mick Fleetwood
Duduka Da Fonseca
George Fludas
D.J. Fontana
Hannah Ford-Welton
Shannon Forrest
Al Foster - Drummerworld
Al Foster

Vernel Fournier
Panama Francis
Joe Franco
Brian Frasier-Moore
Josh Freese
Kiko Freitas
Steve Gadd - Drummerworld
Steve Gadd

James Gadson
Richie Gajate-Garcia
David Garibaldi - Drummerworld
David Garibaldi

Matt Garstka
Mel Gaynor
Jason Gianni
Andy Gillmann
Marcus Gilmore
Nikki Glaspie
Daniel Glass
Evelyn Glennie
Jim Gordon - Drummerworld
Jim Gordon

Danny Gottlieb
Jimmy DeGrasso
Eric Kamau Gravatt
Milford Graves
Benny Greb - Drummerworld
Benny Greb

Sonny Greer
Rayford Griffin
Dave Grohl
Freddie Gruber
Donny Gruendler
Maison Guidry
Mark Guiliana - Drummerworld
Mark Guiliana

Terreon Gully
Trilok Gurtu
Ralf Gustke
Tomas Haake
Wolfgang Haffner
Omar Hakim - Drummerworld
Omar Hakim

Matt Halpern
Chico Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton - Drummerworld
Jeff Hamilton

Lionel Hampton
Jake Hanna
Eric Harland - Drummerworld
Eric Harland

Buddy Harman
Gavin Harrison - Drummerworld
Gavin Harrison

Mickey Hart
Billy Hart
Steve Hass
Fritz Hauser
Roger Hawkins
Taylor Hawkins
Louis Hayes - Drummerworld
Louis Hayes

Roy Haynes - Drummerworld
Roy Haynes

Richie Hayward
Albert Tootie Heath
Levon Helm
Gerry Hemingway
Don Henley
Horacio Hernandez
Claus Hessler
Gerald Heyward - Drummerworld
Gerald Heyward

Giovanni Hidalgo
Billy Higgins - Drummerworld
Billy Higgins

Jeff Hirshfield
Jon Hiseman
Ari Hoenig
Gene Hoglan
Rodney Holmes
Steve Houghton
Daniel Humair
Ralph Humphrey
Gary Husband
Zakir Hussain
Greg Hutchinson
Susie Ibarra
Tommy Igoe
Tris Imboden
Al Jackson
Duffy Jackson
Gene Jackson
Huub Janssen
Bobby Jarzombek
Akira Jimbo
Jonas Johansen
Jack DeJohnette Drummerworld
Jack DeJohnette

Gus Johnson
Mike Johnston
Daru Jones
Elvin Jones - Drummerworld
Elvin Jones

Harold Jones
Papa Jo Jones - Drummerworld
Papa Jo Jones

Philly Joe Jones - Drummerworld
Philly Joe Jones

Rufus "Speedy" Jones
Steve Jordan - Drummerworld
Steve Jordan

Joey Jordison
Jonathan Joseph
Manu Katché
Senri Kawaguchi
Jim Keltner - Drummerworld
Jim Keltner

Will Kennedy
Billy Kilson
George Kollias
Glenn Kotche
Joey Kramer
Bill Kreutzmann
Gene Krupa - Drummerworld
Gene Krupa

Russ Kunkel
Joe La Barbera
Abe Laboriel, jr.
Gene Lake
Don Lamond
Thomas Lang
Dave Langguth
Shannon Larkin
Pete LaRoca Sims
Karl Latham
Rick Latham
Trevor Lawrence Jr.
Ricky Lawson - Drummerworld
Ricky Lawson

Chris Layton
Tommy Lee
Felix M. Lehrmann
Paul Leim
Stan Levey
Larnell Lewis
Mel Lewis
Victor Lewis
Pete Lockett
Dave Lombardo
Larrie Londin
John Longstreth
Hakim Ludin
Ray Luzier
Peter Magadini
Mike Mangini
Shelly Manne - Drummerworld
Shelly Manne

Brian "Brain" Mantia
Sherrie Maricle
Rick Marotta
John Marshall
Billy Martin
Pedrito Martinez
Ken K. Mary
Harvey Mason - Drummerworld
Harvey Mason

Nick Mason
Pat Mastelotto
Dave Mattacks
Phil Maturano
Jojo Mayer - Drummerworld
JoJo Mayer

Marilyn Mazur
Nicko McBrain
Joe McCarthy
George Spanky McCurdy
Jason McGerr
Russ McKinnon
Marvin McQuitty
Buddy Miles
Butch Miles
Russ Miller
Marco Minnemann
Mike Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell - Drummerworld
Mitch Mitchell

Joseph Ziggy Modeliste
Jonathan Moffett
Mark Mondesir
Drori Mondlak
Keith Moon - Drummerworld
Keith Moon

Eric Moore
Stanton Moore - Drummerworld
Stanton Moore

Steve Moore
Airto Moreira Drummerworld
Airto Moreira

Joe Morello - Drummerworld
Joe Morello

Rod Morgenstein
Joe Morris
Nate Morton
Paul Motian
Famadou Don Moye
Alphonse Mouzon
Jonathan Mover
Moritz Mueller
Idris Muhammad
Narada
Lewis Nash
Sandy Nelson
Andy Newmark
Jost Nickel
Anika Nilles
David Northrup
Gary Novak
Nippy Noya
Adam Nussbaum
Volkan Oektem
Jamie Oldaker
Nigel Olsson
Tony Oxley
Ian Paice - Drummerworld
Ian Paice

Carl Palmer - Drummerworld
Carl Palmer

Earl Palmer - Drummerworld
Earl Palmer

Francis Panama
Toss Panos
Chris Parker
Leon Parker
Vinnie Paul
Jim Payne
Sonny Payne
Lee Pearson
Neil Peart - Drummerworld
Neil Peart

Shawn Pelton
Clarence Penn
Chris Pennie
Armando Peraza
Karl Perazzo
Stephen Perkins
Charli Persip
Ralph Peterson
Pat Petrillo
Simon Phillips - Drummerworld
Simon Phillips

Diego Piñera
Jeff Porcaro - Drummerworld
Jeff Porcaro

Mike Portnoy - Drummerworld
Mike Portnoy

Cozy Powell
Bobby Previte
Thomas Pridgen
Aquiles Priester
Dafnis Prieto
Tito Puente
Bernard Purdie - Drummerworld
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie

Alvin Queen
Jeff Queen
Questlove
Johnny Rabb
Tobias Ralph
Stanley Randolph
Rich Redmond
Raul Rekow
Walfredo Reyes, Jr.
Walfredo Reyes
Buddy Rich - Drummerworld
Buddy Rich

Dannie Richmond
Sean Rickman
Alex Riel
Karriem Riggins
Ben Riley
Herlin Riley
Jim Riley
John Riley - Drummerworld
John Riley

Ringo Starr - Drummerworld
Ringo

Max Roach - Drummerworld
Max Roach

Lil John Roberts
John J.R. Robinson - Drummerworld
John J.R. Robinson

Pete LaRoca Sims
Bobby Rock
Derek Roddy
Calvin Rodgers
Mickey Roker
Bobby Rondinelli
Joel Rosenblatt
Tony Royster Jr.
Ilan Rubin
Phil Rudd
Daniel Sadownick
Bobby Sanabria
Antonio Sanchez - Drummerworld
Antonio Sanchez

Poncho Sanchez
Mongo Santamaria
Cindy Blackman Santana
Christoph Schneider
Jared Schonig
Mark Schulman
Jon Bermuda Schwartz
Kendrick Scott
Robert Sput Searight
Denny Seiwell
Danny Seraphine
Paco Séry
Chad Sexton
Gil Sharone
Ed Shaughnessy
Michael Shrieve
El Estepario Siberiano
Pete LaRoca Sims
Eric Singer
Zutty Singleton
Jeff Sipe
Chad Smith
Marvin "Smitty" Smith
Nate Smith
Nick Smith
Steve Smith - Drummerworld
Steve Smith

Ash Soan
Glen Sobel
Yoyoka Soma
Ed Soph
Matt Sorum
Richard Spaven
Aaron Spears - Drummerworld
Aaron Spears

Jeremy Stacey
David Stanoch
Zak Starkey
John "Jabo" Starks

Ringo Starr

Aaron Sterling
Billy Stewart - Drummerworld
Bill Stewart

Nisan Stewart

Clyde Stubblefield

Fredy Studer
Todd Sucherman
James "The Rev" Sullivan
Jason Sutter
Fukushi Tainaka
Grady Tate
Garo Tavitjan
Art Taylor
Joel Taylor
Mel Taylor
Roger Taylor
John Tempesta
Jon Theodore
Aaron Thier
Ed Thigpen - Drummerworld
Ed Thigpen

Ian Thomas
Questlove Thompson
Chester Thompson
Brian Tichy
Top Secret Drum Corps
Pat Torpey
Tico Torres
Dave Tough
Nat Townsley
Scott Travis
Ron Tutt
Justin Tyson
Lars Ulrich
Vadrum
Andrea Vadrucci

Christian Vander
Alex Van Halen
Ronnie Vannucci
Nana Vasconcelos
Carlos Vega
Glen Velez
Ronnie Verrell
Nicolas Viccaro
Johnny Vidacovich
Jimmy Vincent
Nick D'Virgilio
Chad Wackerman
Nasheet Waits
Narada Michael Walden
Bill Ward
Billy Ward
Kenny Washington
Derico Watson
Charlie Watts - Drummerworld
Charlie Watts

Jeff "Tain" Watts
Chick Webb
Dave Weckl - Drummerworld
Dave Weckl

Max Weinberg
Klaus Weiss
Hannah Ford Welton
Paul Wertico
Genius Lee Wesley
George Wettling
Alan White
Lenny White
Steve White
Pete Wilhoit
Brad Wilk
Rashid Williams
Tony Williams - Drummerworld
Tony Williams

Matt Wilson
Shadow Wilson
David "Pick" Withers
Kenny Wollesen
Nate Wood
Sam Woodyard
Pete York
Yoyoka
Pete Zeldman
Zoro