Joyous Shout! is proud to announce that Chico Hamilton has recently signed a multi-album multi-year recording agreement with Koch Entertainment, and will soon be entering the studio to cut his first album for Koch Jazz. This news comes hot on the heals of Chico's blazing shows at Blues Alley in Washington DC as part of the 2000 Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, and three Friday evening shows in April kicking off the new "Starry Nights: Fridays Under the Sphere at the Rose Center for Earth and Space" Music Series at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Chico and his Euphoria group will be performing extensively around the United States in 2000, with dates already confirmed in Bridgehampton, NY, the Juneteenth Festival in St. Louis, the JVC Fest in NYC, the Sunnyside Jazz Festival in Westchester, and the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, as well as other dates soon to be added. Performance highlights of 1999 included the Jazz at Drew Festival in Los Angeles, the Jazz's Alive Festival in San Antonio, Texas, on a SOLD OUT performance (w/ Peter Jennings and wife in attendance!!) at the Wild Rose Cafe in Bridgehampton, NY on a benefit for WPBX-FM radio, at the Bird Of Paradise in Ann Arbor, MI, a rousing set on the Erie Art Museum Blues & Jazz Festival in Erie, PA, Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY, on the 1999 Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival and after YES even more SOLD OUT performances by Chico and his "Euphoria" group in March at Birdland in NYC and back in December of '98 on the "Jazz Live!" series from Flushing Town Hall in NYC. January `99 kicked off with Chico and his "Euphoria" group performing on the "Jazz En El Tambo" Festival in Uruguay, and on the 35th Anniversary Celebration at the Whiskey A Go Go in LA. We are especially proud to announce that Chico received the Mannes New School "Beacons of Jazz" award in June of '99, in recognition for his "significant contribution to the evolution of jazz." This coming July, Chico will also be judging in the Thelonious Mink Institute of Jazz's Jazz Composer's Competition.

We are happy to bring to your attention that Ovation, the new cable arts network, presenter of the US TV debut Fall '97 of the Chico Hamilton documentary film, DANCING TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER, rebroadcast the film four times in April '98. Throughout the Fall of '97, Chico and his Euphoria group performed to a SOLD OUT audience on the JAZZ AT WOODSTOCK series, and performed on their first tour in Greece to SOLD OUT audiences for 7 nights in Athens, and 1 night each in Kastoria and Thessaloniki. Building upon the successes of the last few years we feel that 2000 and 2001 will really be remarkable years in the further adventures of Chic, Chic, Chico!! In 1997, Chico and his Euphoria group were honored to spend 5 days in Albi, France where Chico was Artist in Residence (doing clinics, master classes, a performance with a local big band doing arrangements of his music, and several shows with his Euphoria group), and if you will remember Chico's 10 city tour of France in 1996 was declared the Cultural Event of the Month by a national daily newspaper. Also in 1997 was a 7 day tour of the UK with barnstorming dates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle,Liverpool, Cambridge, Birmingham, Norwich and London. In London Chico also shot a feature for the NBC Europe show 'Talking Jazz', following up on the success of the European premiere of the documentary film 'Chico Hamilton- Dancing To A Different Drummer' on the French/German Arts Network ARTE which was seen by 165,000 viewers.

Still reverberating is all the talk about the incendiary performances by Chico and his Euphoria group Summer of 1996 at the Festival Int'l De Jazz De Montreal (broadcast throughout all of Canada by CBC French Radio), at the Ford Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival on two different stages in one day (broadcast throughout all of the US by NPR), at the Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors Festival for 9000 people, at the Brecon Jazz Festival (broadcast throughout Wales on BBC Wales) in Wales, and Chico's first ever performance in Portugal on the Jazz Em Agosto Festival. Also continuing is Chico's impressive run in the Down Beat Reader's Poll placing his 'Arroyo' CD in the 'Jazz Album of the Year' category in 1992, his 'Dancing To A Different Drummer' solo drum CD in the 'Jazz Album of the Year' category in 1995!!

More news coming soon, so catch the vibe!!

Thanks...Peace...Keep the Faith.

Jeffrey