Hamilton was in Barcelona for a couple of nights in December 2010 and this Spanish issue selects the best of what he got up to while fronting this local rhythm team. Happily for those listening, either in person or on record, they struck gold together, with Hamilton fired up and finding all sorts of new things to say on some familiar songs. He takes ‘Red Wagon’ on a helter-skelter journey, buoyed up on Pi’s surging drums, the off-beats like pistol shots, with Nieto’s stirring piano a standout. Much the same goes for James P. Johnson’s ‘Old Fashioned Love’, which is given an altogether more contemporary going over, swinging hard, again aided by Pi and Nieto in surging form. Hamilton’s persuasive ballad style is one of the adornments of mainstream jazz and here he offers a simply sumptuous version of ‘You Are Too Beautiful’. A pick-up combination perhaps, but what a pick-me-up they provide. Perfect music.