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An essential force in the West Coast Jazz scene of the ’50s and ’60s, drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton possessed a subtle yet immensely creative style that would come to define the cool jazz movement. After getting his start drumming for the likes of Charles Mingus while still in high school in Los Angeles (Hamilton’s hometown and the epicenter of cool jazz), he went on to work with legends like Count Basie, tour as Lena Horne’s drummer, and become a charter member of baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s highly influential quartet. In a rare move for a drummer in the ’50s, Hamilton founded his own quintet in 1955 and instantly achieved major success, with the Chico Hamilton Quintet quickly emerging as one of the most popular jazz groups of the time — and later gaining recognition as one of the last important West Coast Jazz bands in music history. Before disbanding in the mid-’60s, the quintet cycled through several line-ups (with one version featuring Eric Dolphy) and explored such eclectic styles as chamber jazz and advanced hard-bop, in addition to appearing in films like Jazz on a Summer’s Day (a concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival). Released via Stax Record’s subsidiary, Enterprise Records, Hamilton’s 1973 album The Master finds the world-renowned drummer once again expanding his vast sonic palette and working with members of Southern boogie stronghold Little Feat, including vocalist/guitarist Lowell George, keyboardist Bill Payne, bassist Kenny Gradney, guitarist/vocalist Paul Barrere, and percussionist Sam Clayton. The result is an undeniable hidden gem, merging Hamilton’s melodic and endlessly mesmerizing drumming with a funk-infused, R&B-tinged take on post-bop jazz.