Search - Chico Hamilton, Eric Dolphy :: Original Ellington Suite

"Throwaway Record" ia rare find and a real gem

Robert Middleton | Boulder Creek, CA United States | 08/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This "throwaway recording session" is one of the greatest jazz finds in years and a true gem. In 1959 Chico Hamilton recorded and released "The Ellington Suite" with Buddy Colette, Jim Hall, Fred Katz, Carson Smith and Paul Horn. But very few know that the same suite was recorded some months earlier by quite a different group with Eric Dolphy on saxophone, clarinet and flute, and then never released. The tapes were lost but a close-to-mint vinyl test pressing was found in a used record bin in Brighton England in 1995!! This CD is taken directly from that test pressing. You'd never know it. The sound is wonderful and the music is sublime. Covering several well-known Ellington pieces such as In a Mellotone, In a Sentimental Mood, I'm Just a Lucky So and So, I'm Beginning to See the Light and It Don't Mean a Thing, Chico Hamilton and company swing lightly but convincingly. The highlight, of course being the many wonderful solos by Dolphy. This belongs in the collection of any fan of Dolphy, and of course Chico Hamilton. This CD might also serve to bring Chico Hamilton to light for those (including me) who have so far not been familiar with his work. Following this purchase I quickly obtained a copy of Reunion (with most of his original quintet featuring the same instrumentation as on the Ellington Suite), Man from Two Worlds featuring Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo from 1963 and 1962 sessions and his latest offering from 1999, a hard swinging, Timely. There is no doubt about it, Chico Hamilton may be one of the most underrated band leaders in jazz given that only a small fraction of his recorded output is currently available on CD. I recommend you not only pick up the Ellington Suite but check out everything else that Chico has done before it disappears as well. As Ellington said, "I'm beginning to see the light!""

A sublime tribute to Duke's art;absolutely essential!!!

JEAN-MARIE JUIF | BESANCON France | 08/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't agree with some reviewers who wrote about this session.But,OK,CHico Hamilton's music was too advanced fourty five years ago for some ears (that's why this session was never released),and maybe it's still to advanced for some people.
I'd like to start this way:
- the sound quality isn't awful;it's a very correct one,so maybe some guys have to wash their ears before writing dumb things.
- Nate Gershman,the cello player,isn't a jazz musician and so,was not supposed to play like Red Mitchell or Oscar Pettiford.Chico Hamilton loved to interpolate classical things into jazz themes,and he was not the only one to do that.
- The reason why this session was never released is clearly explained into the booklet if you read it completely.It was no live recording.This was the first recording of Chico's Ellington suite,with Gershman,John Pisano on guitar,Hal Gaylor on bass and Eric Dolphy on clarinet,alto and flute;this was done August 22,1958.But it was never issued because Dolphy's music didn't satisfy Pacific Jazz,and the suite was recorded again with Buddy Collette replacing Dolphy.Please note that the second recording isn't really a suite,but only a succession of themes by Duke.In the first version,each theme is related to the following,forming a real suite.
Dolphy sounds too parkerish in this record ? Well,where do you think he comes from??? Charlie Barnet ??? It's as stupid as reproaching Zoot Sims to sound like Pres,or Pharoah Sanders to sound like Trane,or David Murray to sound like Ayler.
The fact is that this record is one of the best tributes to Duke Ellington ever recorded.Chico Hamilton chose magnificent tunes (I'm particularly pleased he chose "day dream" ,"azure" and "I'm just a lucky so and so").The arrangements are great,and Dolphy's solos,on flute,clarinet and alto,are majestic ones.Here is one of the highlights from the Pacific Jazz collection,even if it was rejected at the time of its recording.A real treasure."

Interesting for Dolphy, otherwise the remake was better.

Andrew R. Weiss | Raleigh, NC USA | 12/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up with the "reunion" version of Hamilton's "Ellington Suite," the one with Buddy Collette, Paul Horn, Jim Hall, Fred Katz and Carson Smith. It was one of my favorite albums and I wore it out before I turned 18. It then disappeared. Some years later, I got World Pacific's Hamilton Quintet sampler, and that had a couple of snippets from the Dolphy version. I was intregued, especially by Dolphy's extensions of Parker's alto style. So when I saw this reissue, I bought it.



One value of this reissue is to hear Dolphy in a formative stage of his musical development, ready to take off, learning how to bend and shape notes and phrases and already finding his distinctive rhythmic style. The other value is to hear Hamilton's chamber-jazz arrangements of these pieces, the same arrangements as the reunion group used on its LP. They are sensitive, with interesting instrumental interplay and color. Otherwise, this CD is a disappointment to me. Nate Gershman, in particular, is no Fred Katz, and not only has no sense of jazz phrasing but is consistently flat and has other serious intonation problems. If you can get your hands on the reunion version, compare Katz' solo on "Daydream", the cello feature, with Gershman's. Where Katz is fluid, passionate, lyrical, dynamic, Gershman is polite and somewhat stiff. As good a guitar player John Pisano is, I miss Jim Hall's harmonic richness in this music. And there is no doubt Carson Smith did a better job of anchoring the group than Hal Gaylor.



The sound is remarkably good considering its source. However, it is clearly a demo mix and many details get lost (one major example: Hamilton's mallets on cymbals in "Azure," which are all but inaudible).



Pacific Jazz would do all of us a favor by releasing a 2 CD set with both versions."