Lionel Hampton

As the pioneering jazz vibraphonist, Lionel Hampton ranked among the leading figures in the music from the mid-1930s forward. He managed the rare balance of remaining receptive to new ideas—he even cut a version of “Giant Steps”—while never abandoning his core swing approach. Hampton began his career on drums, performing with the Chicago Defender Newsboys’ Band in his youth. His earliest model was Jimmy Bertrand, the 1920s percussionist who sometimes doubled on xylophone. On the West Coast he worked with Curtis Mosby’s Blue Blowers, Reb Spikes, and Paul Howard’s Quality Serenaders, making his first recordings with the latter in 1929, before moving to Les Hite’s ensemble, which backed Louis Armstrong for a time. During a 1930 studio date a vibraphone stood nearby; Armstrong invited Hampton, who had already experimented with the instrument, to improvise behind him on “Memories of You” and “Shine,” thereby becoming the first jazz musician to document an improvised vibes solo.

Six more years passed before wider recognition arrived. After leaving Hite, Hampton led his own unit at Los Angeles’ Paradise Cafe until Benny Goodman visited the club in 1936 and immediately engaged him. Hampton soon appeared on record with Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Gene Krupa in the Benny Goodman Quartet and formally joined the band six weeks later. His exuberant solos, capable of drawing a smile from Goodman himself, made him a featured attraction in films, at the landmark 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, and on nightly radio broadcasts. Beginning in 1937 he also directed a series of all-star sessions for Victor that assembled many of swing’s finest players; those 1937–1941 performances were later collected by Bluebird in a six-LP box, though issued piecemeal on compact disc.

Hampton remained with Goodman until 1940, occasionally substituting on drums and singing. That same year he organized his first large orchestra, which scored a major success in 1942 with “Flying Home,” highlighted by Illinois Jacquet’s celebrated tenor saxophone solo—one of the earliest R&B statements on record. Throughout the rest of the decade the extroverted ensemble leaned heavily toward rhythm-and-blues, absorbed bebop influences after 1944, and at times veered into overt showmanship. Its ranks included, among others, Arnett Cobb, Dinah Washington (whom Hampton helped bring to wider attention), Cat Anderson, Marshall Royal, Dexter Gordon, Milt Buckner, Earl Bostic, Snooky Young, Johnny Griffin, Joe Wilder, Benny Bailey, Charles Mingus, Fats Navarro, Al Gray, Wes Montgomery, and Betty Carter. The band’s popularity enabled Hampton to maintain large ensembles, on and off, into the mid-1990s; the 1953 edition that performed in Paris, featuring Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Cleveland, Gigi Gryce, George Wallington, and Annie Ross, proved especially distinguished, though disputes over finances and recording rights hastened its dissolution.

During the 1950s Hampton participated in numerous all-star gatherings, including reunions with Benny Goodman, encounters with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Stan Getz, and Buddy DeFranco, and a trio recording with Art Tatum and Buddy Rich; he also appeared in the film The Benny Goodman Story (1956). From the 1950s onward he largely revisited earlier successes, regularly featuring “Hamp’s Boogie Woogie”—showcasing his rapid two-finger piano technique—“Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop,” and “Flying Home.” Even so, his trademark vitality continued to generate audience excitement, and he remained a widely recognized figure. Across his career Hampton recorded for nearly every major label as well as for his own Glad Hamp and Who’s Who imprints. Despite strokes and the effects of advancing age, he stayed an active presence into the 1990s. In January 2001 a vibraphone he had used for fifteen years entered the collection of the National Museum of American History. On 31 August 2002, at the age of 94, Lionel Hampton succumbed to heart failure.