Chico Hamilton Quintet featuring Buddy Collette.

Signed cleanly and in full by Chico Hamilton in black marker pen on the front cover. This is the 1979 Japanese pressing, retaining the original liner notes (in Japanese) and obi band, of an early Hamilton album, originally issued in 1956. In his study of West Coast jazz, distinguished music historian Ted Gioia writes, "Hamilton's quintet was one of the most stylized groups to emerge on the West Coast scene. All the elements associated with Mulligan and West Coast jazz - unusual instruments, intricate arrangements, a refined sense of swing - figured prominently in the group's sound. For many listeners, the Chico Hamilton Quintet was a quintessential West Coast jazz band". He goes on to note that multi-instrumentalist Buddy Collette and guitarist Jim Hall "provided the strongest jazz solo voices in the original quintet". The present album also features Fred Katz (cello) and Carson Smith (bass). Side 1 is a Hollywood studio date and the reverse recorded live at The Strollers club in Long Beach. Cook and Morton award the "complete recordings" issue of the Collette-Hall sessions ***(*), a shade short of their maximum four stars, but rating as "an excellent record, with some exceptional music. Only kept out of the front rank by some minor reservations"; and comment on the recent "rediscovery and reissue of important early work". Discogs website; Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, ninth edition, 2008; Ted Gioia, West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California 1945-1960, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1992. 12-inch vinyl LP (Pacific Jazz PJ-1209), new plain white inner sleeve (original plastic sleeve, Japanese liner notes and obi band), original album cover. A touch of shelfwear to cover otherwise sharp and fresh; disc in excellent condition.…