Gene Harris - Scott Hamilton Quintet - At Last

As part of Concord Records’ programme to release classic recordings on hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) comes At Last , a 1990 session that finally realized pianist Gene Harris’ wish to record with tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton. For fans of mainstream jazz that leans to the West Coast sound, this is a fine record that swings comfortably; safe, but full of life. Harris, who has released over thirty-five recordings as a leader and over seventy as a sideman, has an easy-going style that owes much to Oscar Peterson but is less rambunctious. Hamilton, who emerged in the ’70s as one of the few young saxophonists who wasn’t lured in by the fusion movement, has a similar number of recordings as a leader and well over a hundred as a guest, including work with Charlie Byrd, Ruby Braff, Rosemary Clooney and Woody Herman. He combines the swing of Zoot Sims with the warmth and sentimentality of Ben Webster’s more romantic side. Guitarist Herb Ellis, who has recorded well over a hundred alb