On Thursday, March 11, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, Denis Robinson wrote:
Hi all,
I am trying to find out anything I can about Bobby Hamilton, who drummed
for Nina Simone on at least half a dozen sessions between 1960 and 1965.
I can find nothing on the Web about him *except* for info about Nina
Simone sessions where he appears in said half dozen sessions.
He was drawn to my attention originally because of the track Flo Me La
which Nina recorded at Newport. Though the writers of record liner notes
were apparently incapable of recognizing the fact, this track mostly
consists of the drummer making a fair-to-good attempt at playing West
African polyrhythm on his drum kit.
This is so unusual in the context of mainstream American jazz, so far as
I know, that it makes me curious about Bobby Hamilton. So far I can say
only one thing: he is obscure.
Also of interest is the actual rhythm. It is reminiscent of the Ashanti rhythm Adowa, of the Ewe rhythm Atsiagbekor, and of various Mande
rhythms e.g. of the Dundumba family. It is certainly a rhythm of the
kind that Westerners would notate typically as 6/8 or 12/8, and it
involves lots of cross-rhythm between duple and triple elements. Can
anyone pin it down more precisely?
If anyone can tell me of other instances in American jazz where that
sort of polyrhythm occurs, or alternatively, if anyone can voice any hypothesis about why for all their virtues American jazz drummers were unwilling or incapable of following the lead of the obscure Bobby
Hamilton, thereby failing to access an entire dimension of rhythmic
interest, I'd be grateful also.
Cheers all,
Denis
Hello Denis,
What in specific are trying to find out about Bobby Hamilton?
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