Richmond native and world-class drummer and Jazz musician Jeff Hamilton will return to his roots to present a fund-raising concert at 7:30 pm, Friday, November 11, 2022 at The Reid Center (the historic Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church), 1004 North A Street, Richmond, IN.
The Jeff Hamilton Trio will perform at the fundraiser as part of the Reid Center's ongoing efforts to support its evolving role as a community arts center. Tickets for the event are $50 and available online (Tickets.ReidCenter.org) and at the Wayne County Convention and Visitors Bureau. A reception for attendees will follow the performance.
Hamilton, whose career spans five decades, has played with noteworthy bands and musicians including the New Tommy Orchestra, where he got his first big break in 1974. He performed with the late musical greats Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney and Woody Herman. Hamilton and his musical partner, bassist John Clayton, formed the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and traveled exclusively with Jazz singer Diana Krall. More than 200 recordings by numerous musical greats such as Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole and Mel Torme included Hamilton on the drums.
Hamilton recalls that he grew up in Richmond listening to his parents' big band records and began playing drums with Oscar Peterson records. He attended Indiana University and studied with John Von Ohlen. Among drummers who influenced him, Hamilton credits Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Mel Lewis, "Philly" Joe Jones and Shelly Manne. He accepted a position Manne vacated in the L.A.4 band with Ray Brown, Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida, where some of the six records by that group featured Hamilton's own compositions and arrangements.
Reviewers have praised Hamilton's dynamic drumming as "technically accomplished" and featuring "sensitivity and sizzle." He appeared in Natalie Cole's Great Performances PBS special, Unforgettable, and an Oscar Peterson documentary, Life in the Key of Oscar. Along with recording and performing throughout the world, Hamilton also teaches, arranges and composes.
The Reid Center was created to preserve the historic 1906 Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church. The Reid Center's mission includes a commitment to diversity, equity, access and inclusion. The organization's leadership envisions the Center, in its quest to become a cultural venue of choice, will serve as both an educational and historical destination for visitors and a source of community pride. Along with its Louis Comfort Tiffany windows and interior design, the Reid Center features a 1905 Hook and Hastings pipe organ (Boston, MA) and a 1902 Starr Piano Company 9-foot concert grand piano (Richmond, IN). A variety of ongoing and free musical concerts for the public have featured both instruments at The Reid Center, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
This event was made possible with generous support from the Wayne County Foundation and many community donors and volunteers.