Renowned pianist Tommy Flanagan doesn't ordinarly appear as a guest on other musicians' recordings. Bot then again, Scott Hamilton is no ordinary tenor saxophonist. Put the two together in the recording studio and you have a rare, not-so-ordinary situation that results in some extraordinary, empathetic music-making. Highlighting Sott Hamilton's relaxed supple phrasing and warmly melodic improvisations meshing magically with Tommy Flanagan's subtle-yet-complex, elegantly swinging piano, supported sensitively by bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Lewis Nash, AFTER HOURS is the perfect album for those late nights when nothing else but some heartfelt ballads and some soulful blues will do. "This recording is called AFTER HOURS for the excellent reason that it recalls the Hamilton-Flanagan Town Hall performance with a transcendent relaxation which evokes the profoundly communicative, almost autumnal atmosphere sometimes achieved late at night in a club ... individual egos have been subsumed into the common goal of allowing each bar, phrase and chorus to flow into the next, and the music is set free to express itself with joyous, unforced warmth." - Peter Straub