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Re: info on drummer Bobby Hamilton???
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india1...@gmail.com
Jul 26, 2019, 11:57:13 AM7/26/19
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On Thursday, March 11, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, Denis Robinson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am trying to find out anything I can about Bobby Hamilton, who drummed
> for Nina Simone on at least half a dozen sessions between 1960 and 1965.
> I can find nothing on the Web about him *except* for info about Nina
> Simone sessions where he appears in said half dozen sessions.
>
> He was drawn to my attention originally because of the track Flo Me La
> which Nina recorded at Newport. Though the writers of record liner notes
> were apparently incapable of recognizing the fact, this track mostly
> consists of the drummer making a fair-to-good attempt at playing West
> African polyrhythm on his drum kit.
>
> This is so unusual in the context of mainstream American jazz, so far as
> I know, that it makes me curious about Bobby Hamilton. So far I can say
> only one thing: he is obscure.
>
> Also of interest is the actual rhythm. It is reminiscent of the Ashanti
> rhythm Adowa, of the Ewe rhythm Atsiagbekor, and of various Mande
> rhythms e.g. of the Dundumba family. It is certainly a rhythm of the
> kind that Westerners would notate typically as 6/8 or 12/8, and it
> involves lots of cross-rhythm between duple and triple elements. Can
> anyone pin it down more precisely?
>
> If anyone can tell me of other instances in American jazz where that
> sort of polyrhythm occurs, or alternatively, if anyone can voice any
> hypothesis about why for all their virtues American jazz drummers were
> unwilling or incapable of following the lead of the obscure Bobby
> Hamilton, thereby failing to access an entire dimension of rhythmic
> interest, I'd be grateful also.
>
> Cheers all,
>
> Denis
Hello Denis,
What in specific are trying to find out about Bobby Hamilton?
> Hi all,
>
> I am trying to find out anything I can about Bobby Hamilton, who drummed
> for Nina Simone on at least half a dozen sessions between 1960 and 1965.
> I can find nothing on the Web about him *except* for info about Nina
> Simone sessions where he appears in said half dozen sessions.
>
> He was drawn to my attention originally because of the track Flo Me La
> which Nina recorded at Newport. Though the writers of record liner notes
> were apparently incapable of recognizing the fact, this track mostly
> consists of the drummer making a fair-to-good attempt at playing West
> African polyrhythm on his drum kit.
>
> This is so unusual in the context of mainstream American jazz, so far as
> I know, that it makes me curious about Bobby Hamilton. So far I can say
> only one thing: he is obscure.
>
> Also of interest is the actual rhythm. It is reminiscent of the Ashanti
> rhythm Adowa, of the Ewe rhythm Atsiagbekor, and of various Mande
> rhythms e.g. of the Dundumba family. It is certainly a rhythm of the
> kind that Westerners would notate typically as 6/8 or 12/8, and it
> involves lots of cross-rhythm between duple and triple elements. Can
> anyone pin it down more precisely?
>
> If anyone can tell me of other instances in American jazz where that
> sort of polyrhythm occurs, or alternatively, if anyone can voice any
> hypothesis about why for all their virtues American jazz drummers were
> unwilling or incapable of following the lead of the obscure Bobby
> Hamilton, thereby failing to access an entire dimension of rhythmic
> interest, I'd be grateful also.
>
> Cheers all,
>
> Denis
Hello Denis,
What in specific are trying to find out about Bobby Hamilton?
Henry Law
Jul 27, 2019, 4:52:42 PM7/27/19
to
years, four months and sixteen days since he posted.
--
Henry Law n e w s @ l a w s h o u s e . o r g
Manchester, England
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