Just by coincidence , I went and saw , Scott Hamilton for the first time at Pizza Express in London last night, with a fantastic rhythm section .
He plays in a an easy listening "Old Style " of playing , BUT he has a fantastic tone - all his notes are "spot in the pocket" , with a well developed sub tone , and an amazing, sparsely used, vibrato, which he uses to best effect on ballads.
I really enjoyed the sets, as a refreshing change from the usual raucous altissimos, and endless roaring cadenzas, played at breakneck speed by so many of the contemporary players. They often seem to head nowhere in particular , but are exciting players , and clearly technically and theoretically masters of their instruments , but somehow seem to miss the point about communicating something to an audience ! ( or am I just getting too old , and hankering after some vestigial link to melody in soloing ?! - end of Rant!)
I wish I sounded 10 % as good . He played an old MK VI , as far as I could see (so no surprises!).and a Link metal MP - so a pretty standard setup, except that I expect the Horn was set up in NYC by a Sax guru , and maybe the MP had been "heavily modified too!". It was a seemingly effortless, joyful, enjoyable evening