Andy Hamilton
Biography
1918 – 2012
Jamaican-born sax player Andy Hamilton came to Britain in the 1950s and after struggling as an immigrant West Indian, had a late-flowering jazz career with two marvellous albums for World Circuit with the cream of the UK’s jazz musicians.
Born in 1918 in Port Maria, Jamaica, Andy Hamilton’s first exposure to music was through the church, the family piano and jazz broadcasts from the USA. He made his first ‘sax’ from bamboo and got his young friends to form his first band, Silvershine, in 1928. They were offered a gig at the Kingston Carnival where people danced on the roof which collapsed, breaking the double bass while Andy was playing!
Soon Andy formed a band and started to perform regularly across the island and in the USA during WWII. Back in Jamaica, his band played at the exclusive Tichfield Hotel in Port Antonio. Regular visitors included Noel Coward and Hollywood legend Errol Flynn. He spent two years working with Flynn as composer and bandleader playing music on his yacht Zaka. In 1948 Andy composed, for Flynn, a jazz calypso tune called ‘Silvershine’.
In 1949 Andy, like many others, left Jamaica and stowed away on a boat to England. His intention was ultimately to go to the USA where his heroes Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ben Webster and Lester Young were the enjoying the Golden Age of Jazz. Andy got no further than Birmingham and formed his own band, The Blue Notes. During the day he worked in factories, and at night he played various clubs and functions. Eventually he became a well-known and respected figure in the Midlands jazz scene. His weekly pub sessions featured American jazz stars as well as locals such as Gary Crosby, Dudu Pukwana and Nana Tsiboe.
In 1985 Andy was rushed to hospital in a diabetic coma and was not expected to pull through. Whilst in the coma, the melody to ‘Silvershine’, a song he had not even thought about in almost 40 years, came to him and Andy believed it brought him out of the coma into a new life.
UK jazz writer Val Wilmer attended his 70th birthday concert in 1988 and recommended him to the Soho Jazz Festival. This show was attended by World Circuit’s Nick Gold who said: “He had this wonderful, unique sound… It was very woody, and it had a sort of elasticity to it. Especially when he was playing his calypso stuff, the way he messed about with rhythm”.
World Circuit released Andy Hamilton’s recording debut Silvershine in 1991. It featured an impressive line-up of guests, including David Murray, Andy Sheppard, Jean Toussaint, Orphy Robinson and Nana Tsiboe amongst others. Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall croons through ‘You Are Too Beautiful’. Silvershine was the biggest-selling UK jazz album of the year, The Times Jazz Album of the Year and one of the Sony 50 International Albums of the Year. Andy toured widely and released a follow up album, Jamaica by Night, (1994), with a much more Caribbean vibe.
In his last years, Andy Hamilton gave concerts at WOMAD, at Cape Town Jazz Festival, at London’s Meltdown Festival and played with Buena Vista Social Club. He was also a respected and important teacher, honoured by Birmingham University and the Birmingham Conservatoire, and he was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2008.
BIOGRAPHY
1918 – 2012
Jamaican-born sax player Andy Hamilton came to Britain in the 1950s and after struggling as an immigrant West Indian, had a late-flowering jazz career with two marvellous albums for World Circuit with the cream of the UK’s jazz musicians.
Born in 1918 in Port Maria, Jamaica, Andy Hamilton’s first exposure to music was through the church, the family piano and jazz broadcasts from the USA. He made his first ‘sax’ from bamboo and got his young friends to form his first band, Silvershine, in 1928. They were offered a gig at the Kingston Carnival where people danced on the roof which collapsed, breaking the double bass while Andy was playing!
Soon Andy formed a band and started to perform regularly across the island and in the USA during WWII. Back in Jamaica, his band played at the exclusive Tichfield Hotel in Port Antonio. Regular visitors included Noel Coward and Hollywood legend Errol Flynn. He spent two years working with Flynn as composer and bandleader playing music on his yacht Zaka. In 1948 Andy composed, for Flynn, a jazz calypso tune called ‘Silvershine’.
In 1949 Andy, like many others, left Jamaica and stowed away on a boat to England. His intention was ultimately to go to the USA where his heroes Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ben Webster and Lester Young were the enjoying the Golden Age of Jazz. Andy got no further than Birmingham and formed his own band, The Blue Notes. During the day he worked in factories, and at night he played various clubs and functions. Eventually he became a well-known and respected figure in the Midlands jazz scene. His weekly pub sessions featured American jazz stars as well as locals such as Gary Crosby, Dudu Pukwana and Nana Tsiboe.
In 1985 Andy was rushed to hospital in a diabetic coma and was not expected to pull through. Whilst in the coma, the melody to ‘Silvershine’, a song he had not even thought about in almost 40 years, came to him and Andy believed it brought him out of the coma into a new life.
UK jazz writer Val Wilmer attended his 70th birthday concert in 1988 and recommended him to the Soho Jazz Festival. This show was attended by World Circuit’s Nick Gold who said: “He had this wonderful, unique sound… It was very woody, and it had a sort of elasticity to it. Especially when he was playing his calypso stuff, the way he messed about with rhythm”.
World Circuit released Andy Hamilton’s recording debut Silvershine in 1991. It featured an impressive line-up of guests, including David Murray, Andy Sheppard, Jean Toussaint, Orphy Robinson and Nana Tsiboe amongst others. Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall croons through ‘You Are Too Beautiful’. Silvershine was the biggest-selling UK jazz album of the year, The Times Jazz Album of the Year and one of the Sony 50 International Albums of the Year. Andy toured widely and released a follow up album, Jamaica by Night, (1994), with a much more Caribbean vibe.
In his last years, Andy Hamilton gave concerts at WOMAD, at Cape Town Jazz Festival, at London’s Meltdown Festival and played with Buena Vista Social Club. He was also a respected and important teacher, honoured by Birmingham University and the Birmingham Conservatoire, and he was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2008.
RELEASES
Jamaica By Night
