LIONEL HAMPTON

'Lionel Leo Hampton' (April 20, 1908–August 31, 2002), was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first real jazz vibraphone players. '"Hamp"' ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker and Quincy Jones.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Early career

With Benny Goodman

Lionel Hampton Orchestra

Later career

Personal life

Other endeavors

Housing projects

Awards

Discography

Filmography

External links

References

Biography

Early life

Lionel Hampton was born in either Birmingham, Alabama^[1][2][3] or Louisville, Kentucky^[4][5][6] in 1908 and was raised by his grandmother, but spent his youth in Kenosha, Wisconsin before he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1916. Please see the for details on the confusion over his birthplace. As a child Hampton was a member of the Bud Billiken Club, an alternative to the Boy Scouts of America due to segregation.^[7] During the 1920s—while still a teenager—Hampton took xylophone lessons and started playing drums.^[8] Hampton was raised Roman Catholic, and started out playing fife drum at the Holy Rosary Academy near Chicago.^[9]

Early career

Hampton began his career playing drums for the Chicago Defender Newsboy's Band while still a teenager in Chicago, a group that was led by a Major N. Clark Smith. He moved to California in 1927 or 1928, playing drums for the Dixieland Blue-Blowers. He made his recording debut with The Quality Serenaders led by Paul Howard, then left for Culver City and drummed for the Les Hite band at Sebastian's Cotton Club. During this period he began practicing on the vibraphone. In 1930 Louis Armstrong came to California and hired the Les Hite band, asking Hampton if he would play vibes on two songs. So began his career as a vibraphonist, popularizing the use of the instrument ever since. ^[10]
While working with the Les Hite band, Hampton also occasionally did some performing with Nat Shilkrer and his orchestra. During the early 1930s he studied music at the University of Southern California. In 1934 he led his own orchestra, and then appeared in the 1936 Bing Crosby film ''Pennies From Heaven'' alongside Louis Armstrong (wearing a mask in a scene while playing drums).^[11]

With Benny Goodman

Also in November of 1936^[12], the Benny Goodman Orchestra came to Los Angeles to play the Palomar Ballroom. John Hammond brought Goodman to see Hampton play. Goodman asked Hampton to join the Benny Goodman Trio, made up of Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Gene Krupa, expanding it into the Benny Goodman Quartet. In 1935 Hampton backed Billie Holiday with the Goodman orchestra, who was discovered by John Hammond in 1933.^[13] The Trio and Quartet were among the first racially integrated jazz groups to record and play before wide audiences.^[14][15]
While Hampton worked for Goodman in New York, he recorded with several different small groups known as the Lionel Hampton Orchestra as well as assorted small groups within the Goodman band. In 1940 Hampton left the Goodman organization under amicable circumstances to form his own big band.^[16]

Lionel Hampton Orchestra

Hampton's orchestra became very popular during the 1940s and early 1950s. His third recording with them in 1942 produced a classic version of "Flying Home", featuring a solo by Illinois Jacquet that paved the way for Rhythm & Blues. The selection became very popular, and so in 1944 Hampton recorded "Flying Home, Number Two" featuring Arnett Cobb. The song went on to become the theme song for all three men.
Hampton's band played in a jazz, merged with rhythm & blues vein from around 1945 to the early 1950s. Represented in recordings on Decca Records, the band included performers that achieved renown in their own right in the 1950s and 1960s, composer and bassist Charles Mingus, saxophonist Johnny Griffin, guitarist Wes Montgomery, vocalist Dinah Washington and keyboardist Milt Buckner. Other noteworthy performers in the orchestra then included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Cat Anderson, Kenny Dorham and Snooky Young, trombonist Jimmy Cleveland and saxophonists Illinois Jacquet and Jerome Richardson.
In 1953 the orchestra toured Europe with Clifford Brown, Gigi Gryce, George Wallington and Art Farmer in his lineup; Quincy Jones was arranger/trumpeter and Annie Ross sang. Hampton was also a sideman on many recordings during the 1940s and 1950s, performing and recording with Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum and Buddy DeFranco.^[12]

Later career

During the 1960s the public success of Hampton-led groups began to decline. The times were changing, and he was still performing what worked for him during the '30s, '40s and '50s. He did not fare much better in the '70s, though he recorded actively on the Who's Who Record label.^[12]
During the mid-1980s, Hampton and his band started playing at the University of Idaho's jazz concert, which in 1985 was renamed the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. In 1987 the University's music school was renamed the Lionel Hampton School of Music, the first and only university music school to be named for a jazz musician.
Hampton remained active until a 1991 stroke in Paris forced him to collapse on stage; that, combined with years of chronic arthritis, forced him to cut back drastically on performances. However, he did play at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2001 shortly before his death.^[12][9]

Personal life

During the 1950s he had a strong interest in Judaism and raised money for Israel. In 1953 he composed a King David suite and performed it in Israel with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Later in life Hampton became a Christian Scientist.^[9] Hampton's wife was his manager throughout much of his career. Many musicians recall that Lionel ran the music and Gladys ran the business. Hampton was a Thirty-three degree Prince Hall freemason in New York, also.^[22]
Lionel Hampton died from congestive heart failure on August 31 2002 in New York City, and is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. His funeral was held on September 7, 2002 and featured a performance by Wynton Marsalis and David Ostwald's Gully Low Jazz Band at Riverside Church in Manhattan; the procession began at The Cotton Club in Harlem.^[23] Late in 2001 his apartment caught fire and destroyed his awards and belongings; Hampton escaped uninjured.^[9]

Other endeavors

Housing projects

Hampton was deeply involved in the construction of various public housing projects, and founded the Lionel Hampton Development Corporation. Construction began with the Lionel Hampton Houses in Harlem, New York in the 1960s, with the help of then Republican governor Nelson Rockefeller. Hampton's wife—Gladys Hampton—also was very involved in construction of a housing project in her name—the Gladys Hampton Houses. Gladys died in 1971. In the 1980s, Hampton built another Housing project called Hampton Hills in Newark, New Jersey. Hampton was a staunch Republican and served as a delegate to several Republican National Conventions during his lifetime.^[25] He served as Vice-Chairman of the New York Republican County Committee for some years^[26] and also was a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission.^[9]

Awards

★ 2001 - Harlem Jazz and Music Festival's Legend Award

★ 1996 - National Medal of Arts presented by President William Jefferson Clinton

★ 1995 - Honorary Commissioner of Civil Rights by George Pataki

★ 1995 - Honorary Doctorate from the New England Conservatory of Music

★ 1993 - Honorary Doctorate from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore

★ 1992 - "Contributions To The Cultural Life of the Nation" award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

★ 1988 - The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship

★ 1988 - The National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award

★ 1987 - Honorary Doctorate of Music from Liege University

★ 1987 - Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from the University of Idaho

★ 1987 - The Roy Wilkins Memorial Award from the NAACP

★ 1986 - The One of a Kind Award from Broadcast Music, Inc.

★ 1984 - Jazz Hall of Fame Award from the Institute of Jazz Studies

★ 1984 - Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Southern California

★ 1983 - The International Film and Television Festival of New York City Award

★ 1983 - Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New York

★ 1982 - Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

★ 1981 - Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Glassboro State College

★ 1979 - Honorary Doctorate of Music from Howard University

★ 1978 - Bronze Medallion from New York City

★ 1976 - Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Daniel Hale Williams University

★ 1975 - Honorary Doctorate of Music from Xavier University of Louisiana

★ 1974 - Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Pepperdine University

★ 1968 - Papal Medal from Pope John Paul I

★ 1966 - George Frederick Handel Medal

★ 1957 - American Goodwill Ambassador by President Dwight D. Eisenhower

★ 1954 - Israel's Statehood Award

Discography

Year	Album	Notes	Label
37–39	"Hot Mallets, Vol. 1"	-	Bluebird Records
37–39	"The Jumpin Five, Vol. 2"	-	Bluebird Records
38	"Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert"	appearance as sideman for Benny Goodman	Columbia Records
39–40	"Tempo and Swing"	-	Bluebird Records
39–56	"Greatest Hits"	Selections from above records	RCA Victor
42–63	"Hamp!"	-	GRP/Decca
37–63	"The Lionel Hampton Story"	Selections from all records and eras above	Proper

Filmography

Year	Movie	Role	Director	Genre
1933	Girl Without A Room	himself	Ralph Murphy	Comedy
1936	Pennies From Heaven	himself	Norman Z. McLeod	Comedy/Musical
1937	Hollywood Hotel	himself	Busby Berkeley	Musical/Romance
1938	For Auld Lang Syne	himself	?	Documentary
1948	A Song Is Born	himself	Howard Hanks	Comedy/Musical
1949	Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra	himself	Will Cowan	Music
1955	Musik, Musik and nur Musik	himself	Ernst Matray	Comedy
1955	The Benny Goodman Story	himself	Valentine Davies	Drama
1957	Mister Rock and Roll	himself	Charles S. Dubin	Drama/Musical
1980	But Then She's Betty Carter	himself	Michelle Parkerson	Documentary

External links

★ Christopher Popa, "Lionel Hampton: Music Was His Fountain of Youth," Big Band Library [1]

★ Lionel Hampton's Gravesite

★ ''Gene Krupa - What's New(s)''

References

1. Current Biography Yearbook: 1972, , Charles, Moritz, H.W. Wilson Company, ,
2. Obituary: Lionel Hampton
3. The Bark of the Dogwood: A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens, , Jackson, Tippett, The Enolam Group, Inc., ,
4. Lionel Hampton, 1908–2002; After 75 Years Onstage, a Well-Earned Rest Gary Giddins
5. Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame
6. United States Marine Band Hall of Composers
7. The Lost City: The Forgotten Virtues of Community in America, , Alan, Ehrenhalt, Basic Books, ,
8. Classic Jazz, , Scott, Yanow, Backbeat Books, ,
9. "Ibid"; Voce, Steve
10. ''Ibid"; Yanow, Scott
11. Dexter Gordon: A Musical Biography, , Stan, Britt, Da Capo Press, ,
12. "Ibid"; Yanow, Scott. Swing - The Third...
13. New York Modern: The Arts and the City, , William B., Scott, Johns Hopkins University Press, ,
14. Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life & Times of Benny Goodman, , Ross, Firestone, W. W. Norton & Company, ,
15. "Ibid"; Scott, William B.
16. Swing: Third Ear--The Essential Listening Companion, , Scott, Yanow, Backbeat Books, ,
17. "Ibid"; Yanow, Scott. Swing - The Third...
18. "Ibid"; Yanow, Scott. Swing - The Third...
19. "Ibid"; Yanow, Scott. Swing - The Third...
20. "Ibid"; Voce, Steve
21. "Ibid"; Voce, Steve
22. Great Black Men of Masonry, , Joseph, Cox, iUniverse, ,
23. Funeral Services for Lionel Hampton
24. "Ibid"; Voce, Steve
25. Music And History: Bridging The Disciplines, , Jeffrey H., Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, ,
26. Paid Notice: Deaths
HAMPTON, LIONEL
27. "Ibid"; Voce, Steve