Chico Hamilton -- A Group with Paul Horn and Fred Katz 1963

'Lord Randall', played by Chico Hamilton, drums (photo), with Paul Horn, flute, and others, from a Crown long-play disc, number CLP5310, issued in 1963.
Crown was a low-price LP label that released interesting pop, rock, and jazz material, poorly pressed and more poorly packaged; despite the content, it has been aptly described as a 'junk label'. Having bought two Crown LPs-- this one and a second Chico Hamilton, CLP5341, from the cover of which the photograph seen here is taken-- I gave up on Crown when, a few minutes into a Gerry Mulligan Crown LP, I noticed whatever was used in the pressing sticking to the stylus.
And there are no liner notes; the back of the record jacket advertises other Crown LPs, so there is no information about the pieces being played or who is playing them, besides Chico Hamilton and Paul Horn. But, in addition to percussion and flute, I seem to hear string bass, guitar, possibly clarinet, definitely cello. The cellist is almost certainly Fred Katz; the guitarist may be Jim Hall; I will not speculate about the rest, or whether this might have been a regular Hamilton group, or when the recording was actually made (perhaps not the same as the release date). The two Crown LPs are not even listed in Hamilton discographies I have consulted.
As for the 'Lord Randall' played here, this is not the traditional Scottish ballad, although the ballad might have inspired the piece, nor an updated version of the ballad. Rather, this sounds like an original, highly creative, composition that defies easy categorization. (For comparison, listen to an authentic performance of 'Lord Randall, sung unaccompanied by Ewan MacColl, at www. archive.org.)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• jazz
• third-stream
• cool
• West-Coast
• progressive

[TheSlye1]

i got this on vinyl. but the record has been thru so much and its so full of static. its still good tho

[Jerkicus]

thanks for the upload

[avivagabriel]

yes. wow. i love this. thank you for posting it, and thank you to @ronaldjevans for providing the "liner notes." this is precious music.

[mad1097]

Wow

[ronaldjevans]

This was originally recorded in November 1956 on the album Zen: The Music of Fred Katz. The personnel on that album are members of the Chico Hamilton quintet: Paul Horn (flute, clarinet), Fred Katz (cello), John Pisano (guitar), Carson Smith (bass), Chico Hamilton (drums/percussion). You can see them all except Pisano in the 1957 film "Sweet smell of success". Marty Milner plays the role of the guitarist, with Pisano dubbing the guitar music.

[pixaninny]

All the music featured here is by the cellist Fred Katz (hence the punning titles). The guitarist is John Pisano.