Charles Lloyd - The Complete 1960-61 Sessions by Charles Lloyd & Chico Hamilton (Bonus Track Version) (2017)

Although Charles Lloyd gets top billing, this is in fact the Chico Hamilton Quintet - his first albums for Columbia, which mark the end of his "chamber jazz" period - he would soon drop the cello for the trombone, and the subsequent group (recording for Impulse and Reprise, with their first album - "Drumfusion" - tacked onto this release) featured a harder, more open-ended format. Lloyd gets plenty of space (as did his predecessors Buddy Collette, Paul Horn and Eric Dolphy - talk about big shoes to fill!), and, in his first recorded appearances, he had already formed his distinctive style - rooted in Memphis AND John Coltrane. It was probably Lloyd's influence that led Hamilton in this new direction. Anyway, the group with the cello still sounds good, and they managed more variety than their chamber jazz label might lead you to believe, and Lloyd fits right in. Hamilton was a terrific drummer - not showy, but strong or subtle, as the occasion demanded, never stealing the show but making his presence felt. The material ranges from jazz standards, show tunes (one of the albums included is "Selections From 'Bye Bye Birdie' and 'Irma La Douce'" - Hamilton had previously made an album of the score from "South Pacific," this was the era of jazz interpretations of Broadway musicals) (but, hey, what would jazz be without show tunes?) and originals. Good solos from guitarist Harry Pope, and Nate Gershman's cello is mostly used for color. So, a nice swan song for one of the most popular groups of '50's. The tunes are presented in the order they were recorded (their release was spread over a couple albums), there are a couple rarities that showed up in anthologies, and there's the complete "Drumfusion" with Lloyd, Gabor Szabo and Garnett Brown. Overall, a nice package of one of Hamilton's best group.