Slide Hampton

From the mid-1950s onward Slide Hampton established himself as a skilled trombonist and arranger whose playing and compositions sustained the spirit of bop. He spent 1955 and 1956 with Buddy Johnson, later joined Lionel Hampton, and then became a central contributor to Maynard Ferguson’s strong big band between 1957 and 1959. During the 1960s he directed octets that included Freddie Hubbard and George Coleman among their personnel. After touring Europe alongside Woody Herman in 1968, Hampton remained abroad and maintained a busy schedule. Upon his return to the United States in 1977 he formed the World of Trombones, an ensemble of nine trombonists, performed with the cooperative quintet Continuum, participated in multiple Dizzy Gillespie tribute productions, and issued several recordings on the Telarc label throughout the 1990s. Slide Hampton died on November 18, 2021, in Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 89.