Track Listing

1. Deuces Wild
2. Parker's Pals
3. Save Your Love for Me
4. Cop Out
5. Intermission Riff
6. Sweet Slumber
7. Something for Red
8. Blue Turning Grey Over You
9. Memories of You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23034 in Music
• Brand: Hamilton
• Released on: 2008-05-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

About the Artist
Scott Hamilton can't recall exactly, but the tenor saxophonist estimates that the number of albums he's recorded for Concord Jazz as a leader or co-leader is somewhere around 60, which makes him reigning champ of the imprint's catalog. He made his first album, an eponymous beauty, in 1977, and has been a swinging stalwart for Concord Jazz ever since.

Given Hamilton's prolific output, it's surprising that his cooking and soulful new album of jazz originals and ballads, Across the Tracks, produced by Bob Porter, is a first on two fronts: (1) It's his first recording tracked at legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio; (2) It's his first album that features, on all nine tracks, blues guitarist Duke Robillard, his longtime friend and collaborator (the two had appeared as guests on each other's albums over the years).

"Duke is one of my favorite musicians," says the 53-year-old Hamilton who, as a youngster, used to frequent Robillard shows, even before he formed the classic blues band Roomful of Blues. "We had a good time recording this. It was a good feeling." He adds: "Scott has that rare ability to mix soul and fire with a seldom-heard restraint that always satisfies."

As for recording with RVG, Hamilton says, "I was thrilled. I had been listening to music recorded in Rudy's studio my whole life. Recording there really is different. It's a unique experience where the sonics are naturally acoustic and the saxophone sounds great."

Customer Reviews

Excellent.
The tenor saxophone ballad - both sensuous and poignant - is a distinct genre within jazz. And Scott Hamilton is its greatest living practitioner.
So, if you have a taste for this variety of musical sweetmeat - the audible equivalent to a chocolate truffle - "Across The Tracks" is an irresistible prospect: nine richly romantic performances, one after another.
This is the first time Scott Hamilton and legendary jazz engineer Rudy Van Gelder have worked together. The album was recorded at Rudy's studio in New Jersey and features Grammy nominated (traditional blues) guitarist Duke Robillard (known for his work with Roomful of Blues and The Fabulous Thunderbirds).
The nine original tunes are satisfactorily unhackneyed. Among them , "Something For Red", " Deuces Wild" and "Sweet Slumber" .
The excellent Rhode Island born saxophonist's effortless mastery of the classic swing style of Ben Webster, Gene Ammons, Illinois Jacquet, and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Coleman Hawkins shines bright on this fantastic album, which features his commanding approach to ballads, blues and bebop.
Scott Hamilton has long been known as keeper of the flame for swinging tenor saxophone in the tradition of such icons as Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Ammons, Illinois Jacquet, and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. He has also been a Concord Jazz recording artist since 1977 -- some thirty years, longer than any other Concord artist recorded more than thirty projects on Concord.
Guest musicians: drummer Chuck Riggs, baritone saxophonist Doug James, and Pittsburgh native organist Gene Ludwig .
Have a great listening experience.

disappointment
First I should say where I'm coming from. I love Scott Hamilton's playing. I have some ten albums by him. I think He has marvelous tone and a playing style derived from Ben Webster. I'd love to hear him live, so many of my other jazz favorites are dead. Many younger Jazz artists try to come up with original music and much of it is, well, not entertaining. Hamilton usually comes up with a good selection of tunes.

I found this album quite a disappointment. Yes it is well recorded in a warm environment, but I don't like the song selection and I don't care for the arrangements. There is an omnipresent organ slopping over and drowning out the other parts. I am puzzled by it's high listing in Amazon. It's not awful, it's not unlistenable, it is a disappointment.

A negative review doesn't usually earn much favor, but I'm just trying to save your money. Don't expect this to be like the many other more popular, better known Scott Hamilton CD's. Certainly audition before purchase. Notice that there are, as of today, 67 new and used copies starting at $0.99!

Venturing into new but old territory
This Scott Hamilton album is excellent, just as dozens of others he's recorded for Concord since 1977, but the odds are good that you won't remember hearing most of the tunes on it. The exceptions for me were Ray Wetzel's "Intermission Riff," Fats Waller and Andy Razaf's "Blue Turning Grey Over You" and the Eubie Blake-Razaf classic, "Memories of You." Sonny Stitt, Lee Parker, Buddy Johnson, Duke Ellington, Lucky Millinder and Hamilton himself wrote the other six, which are seldom heard in today's jazz gigs. The star of this CD, of course, is Hamilton, who still delivers ballads very well and can wail with the best of them on some of the faster tunes. Duke Robillard on guitar, Gene Ludwig on organ, Chuck Riggs on drums and Doug James on baritone sax fit in well with Hamilton's playing. The result is another Hamilton CD worth adding to your collection. I confess to owning nearly every one he's recorded, and I play them often.