Yes, that staid grey haired gent on the album cover was once on the cutting edge of the music scene. Back in the 70s, when everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was either a) playing fusion or b) plugging into something electric, a young kid by the name of Scott Hamilton shocked everyone by pushing music forward by looking back to the sounds of Ben Webster and Lester Young. Sure, everyone does that now; there are so many retro players-Wynton Marsalis has made a career of it-but back then it was truly cutting edge. On this session recorded in Copenhagen and tamed with Jan Lundgren/p, Jesper Lundaard/b and Kristian Leth/dr, Hamilton blows like a warm breeze on tunes associated with or composed by the land of Volvos. An intriguing reading of the most familiar piece, “Dear Old Stockholm” overflows with foamy sounds from Hamilton’s tenor. Scandinavian compositions “Swing in F” and “Blues i oktoaver” are as rich as anything this side of the Atlantic, while the nostalgic “Min Soldat” from 1940 displays some well sync’d team work by the rhythm section. Not a bad way to spend an hour, indeed.
Charleston Square Recordings