Drummer, bandleader, film composer, and educator Chico Hamilton died yesterday at the age of 92, it’s been confirmed in the States. Famous for his work with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at the birth of what became known as West Coast jazz, as a film composer he’s remembered for his score for Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and as an educator in much more recent years for his faculty work at the New School in New York. Influenced as a young drummer by Lionel Hampton, Jo Jones, and later Art Blakey, Hamilton accompanied Lena Horne and also performed with Billie Holiday at the Lady Sings the Blues concert at Carnegie Hall in 1956. RIP
Chico Hamilton pictured