Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton was born September 20, 1921, in Los Angeles, California. He first played drums in high school alongside future stars including Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, and Charles Mingus. He made his recording debut with Slim Gaillard, served as house drummer at Billy Berg's club, and toured with Lionel Hampton before serving in the military from 1942 to 1946. Following his discharge, he came to prominence as a sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne.

In 1955, Hamilton formed his first quintet, an unconventional chamber-jazz lineup pairing reedman Buddy Collette, guitarist Jim Hall, whose own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile, bassist Carson Smith, and cellist Fred Katz — a cello-and-guitar-centered instrumentation almost unheard of in jazz at the time. The group became immediately popular, appearing in the 1958 concert film Jazz on a Summer's Day and the Hollywood drama The Sweet Smell of Success.

Across the string of quintets he led from 1955 to 1965, Hamilton became known as much for his talent-scouting as for his own playing, with Paul Horn, Eric Dolphy, Ron Carter, Gabor Szabo, Charles Lloyd, Larry Coryell, and Arthur Blythe all launching major careers as members of his groups. He died November 25, 2013, in New York City, at age 92.

Hamilton's chamber-jazz instrumentation, built around cello and guitar rather than piano, created a distinctive cool-jazz sound that stood apart from the era's dominant hard-bop trends, and his five-quintet run functioned as one of jazz's most productive talent pipelines, launching an extraordinary number of major careers.