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About Scott Hamilton:
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.”
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