Andy Raphael Thomas Hamilton, MBE (26 March 1918 – 3 June 2012) was a Jamaican-born British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist and composer who migrated to the UK in 1949. He recorded his debut album in his early 70s.

Biography

Early years

Hamilton was born in

Port Maria Port Maria is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, overlook the town. It has a p ...

, Jamaica, and learnt to play saxophone on a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

instrument. He formed his first band in 1928 with friends who played oil drums and Hamilton a bamboo sax, influenced by American musicians such as

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

and

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

and by the Kingston-based bands of Redver Cook and Roy Coburn. He spent some time in the U.S., working as a cook and farm labourer, but also having short jazz residencies in Buffalo and

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

. After returning to Jamaica, he worked as musical arranger for

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, freque ...

at his hotel The Titchfield, and on his yacht the ''Zaka''.

Migration to the UK

Hamilton emigrated to the UK in 1949, arriving as a stowawayVal Wilmer
Andy Hamilton obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 11 June 2012. and eventually living and working in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. His day job was in a factory, while at night he played jazz — with his own group, the Blue Notes formed with fellow Jamaican pianist Sam Brown in 1953. Playing mainly local gigs and functions Hamilton also promoted regular gigs across the city booking an early

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

and numerous Jamaican bands at The Tower Ballroom, St John's Restaurant, Accafess, Porsche Club, Junction, Hyatt before establishing a regular weekly venue in Bearwood, inviting visiting musicians such as Joe Newman, Al Casey,

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone and then ...

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

Harry Sweets Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard back ...

, and David Murray. Hamilton fronted weekly gigs on Thursday nights at Bearwood Corks. His sons Graeme and Mark play trumpet and saxophone respectively.

Late career

In 1988 EndBoards Production produced a documentary called
Silver Shine
about Andy Hamilton's migration to the UK and the hurdles experienced in growing his music career, the changing musical taste of Windrush generation and their descendents. The documentary features Andy's Band the Blue Notes with lead vocalist Ann Scott; his first youth band The Blue Pearls, Tony Sykes,

Millicent Stephenson Millicent Stephenson (born 1963) is a British saxophonist, musician, teacher, songwriter and entrepreneur from Birmingham, United Kingdom. In addition, Stephenson is an entrepreneur, vocalist, music director, professional speaker, record label own ...

nee Lindsay, his children Graeme and Mark. Having recovered from a diabetic coma in 1986, he celebrated his 70th birthday in 1988 playing at his regular venue, The Bear, and the gig was reviewed in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' by

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Lif ...

. Following her recommendation, he was invited to perform at the Soho Jazz Festival, and in 1991 at the age of 73, Hamilton made his first ever recording with Nick Gold, ''Silvershine'' on World Circuit Records. It became the biggest selling UK Jazz Album of the Year, ''The Times'' Jazz Album of the Year, and one of the 50 Sony Recordings of the Year. It was followed two years later by ''Jamaica at Night''. These recordings led to concerts in

St Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindia ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Madri In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the princess of Madra Kingdom and the second wife of the king Pandu. She is the mother of the youngest Pandavas - the twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'woman of Madra'. ...

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the

Jazz Cafe The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. In 2020 the Jazz Cafe celebrates its 30th year, ...

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

's, and national tours. He continued to play regularly until his death, appearing at the Bearwood Corks Club in Birmingham, and monthly at Birmingham Symphony Hall. His 90th birthday concert was at a long sold-out

Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...

featured

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

, Sonny Bradshaw,

Myrna Hague Dr. Myrna Hague-Bradshaw, better known as Myrna Hague, known as "Jamaica's First Lady of Jazz", is a Jamaican lovers rock and jazz singer and actress, who recorded for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One. Biography Hague's career began in the mid-1960 ...

Lekan Babalola Olalekan Babalola (born ) is a Nigerian List of jazz percussionists, jazz percussionist and musician. Born in Lagos, Nigeria where he began playing the conga at a young age, he has released seven albums and jointly won two Grammy Awards. Early ...

, Nana Tsiboe, son Mark and The Notebenders, a community music project he set up. Hamilton continued to play, teach and promote music even as he approached his 94th birthday. He died peacefully on 3 June 2012.

Awards and honors

In 1996 Hamilton was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts degree by

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, in 1999 he received a Millennium Fellowship for his work in Community Education, which has involved the establishment of The Ladywood Community School of Music. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...

. On 30 January 2008, a few weeks before his 90th birthday, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

during a ceremony at Symphony Hall. The centenary of Hamilton's birth, and his continuing legacy, was celebrated at

, with a concert featuring The Notebenders Big Band and guests.

Discography

As leader

* ''Silvershine'' ( World Circuit, 1991) * ''Jamaica by Night'' (World Circuit, 1994) * ''Late and Live'' (Burton, 1997)

References

External links

*Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. ''Jazz: The Rough Guide''. *

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

— brief biography by John Bush for Allmusic
Andy Hamilton and the Blue Notes
— Bearwood Corks Club page
"My life of Jazz"
— BBC page *Central TV Documentary
Silver Shine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Andy 1918 births 2012 deaths Migrants from British Jamaica to the United Kingdom English jazz saxophonists British male saxophonists English jazz composers Male jazz composers English male composers Members of the Order of the British Empire Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Jamaican jazz saxophonists People from Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica World Circuit (record label) artists 20th-century saxophonists