Artist: Jimmy Hamilton

Jimmy Hamilton was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Hamilton was born in Dillon, South Carolina, United States, and grew up in Philadelphia. In 1939, he played with Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Mundy, and Bill Doggett, going on to join the Teddy Wilson sextet in 1940. After two years with Wilson, he played with Eddie Heywood and Yank Porter.

In 1943, he replaced Barney Bigard in the Duke Ellington orchestra and stayed with Ellington until 1968. His style was different on his two instruments: on tenor saxophone he had an R&B sound, while on clarinet he was much more precise and technical. He wrote some of his own material in his time with Ellington.

After he left the Ellington orchestra, Hamilton played and arranged on a freelance basis before spending the 1970s and 1980s in the Virgin Islands teaching music. On his retirement from teaching, he continued to perform with his own groups in 1989 and 1990.

Further information about Jimmy Hamilton is found here.

Photography credit: William P. Gottlieb, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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