Biography
John William Mackel came into the world on 28 December 1912 in Baltimore, Maryland. He first performed on banjo in local circles there before shifting to guitar and testing his abilities at the helm of his own ensembles. In 1944 he entered Lionel Hampton’s big band, an association that lasted with only minor breaks for more than three decades. His primary responsibilities inside the orchestra centered on rhythm-guitar work, a position in which he proved consistently strong. Whenever solo chances surfaced he seized them readily, applying an open, fluid approach anchored by firm foundations that lent extra shading to blues and R&B passages. By contrast, the sporadic charts he supplied for the Hampton orchestra displayed a sure and attentive sensitivity to bop’s finer points.