Agreed, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but if Chico Hamilton pulling back on a cigarette and giving the middle-distance the side-eye doesn’t make you wanna listen to The Dealer… we can’t help you!
American jazz drummer and bandleader Chico Hamilton came up in the vibrant West Coast jazz scene, performing with luminaries like Lester Young, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Gerry Mulligan, with his longest standing collaborator being Charles Mingus, with the pair meeting as early as high school and working closely until finding their own bands in the late fifties. Although a mainstay of the Cool Jazz scene, Hamilton as a bandleader was known to incorporate unusual instrumentation - specifically cello and flute - for a highly distinctive sound and that new and unique sound would lead to an appearance by the Chico Hamilton Quintet in the 1957 satirical film, Sweet Smell of Success.
The Dealer was recorded and released (on Impulse! Records) in 1966, with principal recordings taking place at the RCA Recording Studios in New York City, and with supplementary sessions recorded at the fabled Rudy Van Gelder Recording Studio in New Jersey. Interestingly, free jazz icon Charles Lloyd and esteemed Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó both appeared in those sessions, with extra cuts having been released variously over the years as bonus editions, gesturing towards a more progressive sound that Hamilton would follow through the 60s and 70s.
+ Read more about Gábor Szabó’s The Sorcerer.
The core band was Chico Hamilton on drums and percussion (also vocals on the album’s epic centerpoint ‘Searching’), with guitarist Larry Coryell, Richard Davis on bass, and alto saxophonist Arnie Lawrence. Ernie Hayes adds some serious organ breeze on mid-album swooners Baby, You Know and Larry of Arabia, and Archie Shepp provided additional saxophone on one of the album's most iconic tracks, For Mods Only. The Dealer also benefits greatly from Hamilton’s relationship with Jimmy Cheatham, who would arrange and conduct the majority of the start of the album, specifically those moments that drip with finger-clicking cool drive. Albeit in different timbres, The Dealer has so many long winding and hypnotic grooves, it does play out like a soundtrack in that way.
The Dealer also feels more than anything else like a journey. From its more propulsive opening tracks, to the shorter and more cinematic middle section, into its progressive proto-jazz-rock energy that remains an early pivotal point in jazz fusion. It is a testament to Hamilton's ability as both leader and central focus that it is so coherent, with the fiery contributions across psychedelic guitar licks, delicious bass plod and soaring saxophone lines taking it thematically into so many different vibes whilst always feeling like the same piece.
So easy going, such flow and plenty for the repeat play too. He is, The Dealer.
