JAZZ REVIEW : Saxman Hamilton’s Beautiful Echoes of Past

In the view of many tenor saxophonists it was Scott Hamilton who, arriving in New York in 1976, saved their instrument from imminent death-by-tonal-torture. Then 22, he reminded us of the horn’s inherent beauty at a time when honking and squeaking, bawling and caterwauling were rapidly becoming the disorder of the day.

These reflections came to mind Monday when Hamilton visited Los Angeles, a city that sees far less of him than does Tokyo, Nice or New York. For his evening at Alfonse’s (where he will appear again tonight), he was unable to bring his regular group; as it turned out, he could hardly have asked for more encouraging support than was offered by the locally recruited Gerald Wiggins at the piano, Jake Hanna on drums and Andy Simpkins on bass.

Hamilton is to the sound of the 1940s (Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Stan Getz) what Branford Marsalis later became to the ‘60s: not so much a revivalist as a re-validator of a style that did not so much die as simply go temporarily out of fashion.

He has honed his gifts--the total fluency of phrasing, the keen harmonic sense, the implacable swing--to a point where every effort succeeds in seeming effortless. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in his more romantic moments (“In a Sentimental Mood,” “Emily” as a waltz, “When I Fall in Love”) there were reminders of another great tenor star raised, like Hamilton, in Rhode Island, Ellington’s unforgotten Paul Gonsalves.

Complementing him ideally, Wiggins has always showed his mastery of mainstream piano in a style that transcends eras and idioms. Simpkins and Hanna, magnificent both in solo and supportive roles, were sensitive to Hamilton’s every inspired moment, clearly relishing the special pleasure of belonging to this short-lived but totally talented foursome.