Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra · Lionel Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, drummer and bandleader, born in Louisville in 1908 and raised in Chicago. As a teenager he played drums, and in California he worked in the orchestra of Les Hite. When Louis Armstrong hired the band in 1930, he was so impressed by Hampton's vibraphone that he had him play along. In this way Hampton made the instrument popular in jazz. In 1936 Benny Goodman invited him to join his trio, which became a quartet with Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa. It was one of the first mixed jazz groups to play for audiences.

Music and breakthrough

In 1940 Hampton left Goodman and founded a big band of his own. With that orchestra he recorded Flying Home for Decca on 26 May 1942, in an arrangement by the pianist Milt Buckner. The solo by the saxophonist Illinois Jacquet already pointed to rhythm and blues. The song became Hampton's signature tune. His orchestra became a springboard for young musicians, including Charles Mingus, Wes Montgomery, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones.

Influence

The big band played swing with a great deal of energy. At an open-air concert in 1950 the audience nearly went wild when his band marched across the field. His orchestra thus bridged swing and rhythm and blues. In 1996 he received the National Medal of Arts. He died in 2002.

Listening

• 
  Flying Home · Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra, 1942
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1948New Movements in Be-Bop
• 1956Wailin' at the Trianon
• 1962Spotlight On Lionel Hampton & His Big Orchestra
• 1990Jazz Archives, No. 20: Classics 1937/1939
• 2007Mustermesse Basel 1953

See also

• Jump blues