Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton - The Lionel Hampton Quintet (1954) {Verve Master Edition 314 589 100-2 rel 2001}
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© 1954, 2001 Clef / Verve / Universal | Verve Master Edition | 314 589 100-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Swing / Vibes

In 1954, producer Norman Granz held a couple of marathon recording sessions featuring vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, pianist Oscar Peterson, bassist Ray Brown, drummer Buddy Rich, and (on April 13) clarinetist Buddy DeFranco. This set has three selections from the DeFranco date (a 17-plus-minute "Flying Home," the original "Je Ne Sais Pas," and "On the Sunny Side of the Street") and one from the earlier session ("April in Paris"). Hampton is typically exuberant throughout (grunting rather loudly during a few later ensemble choruses on "Flying Home"), DeFranco and Peterson are as swinging as usual, and the overall music is quite joyous.

Here is the 12th volume in the complete chronological recordings of Lionel Hampton as reissued by the Classics label. It opens with Hamp's final five recordings for the MGM label, waxed in Los Angeles on October 17, 1951. This was a 20-piece big band using charts written by Quincy Jones, and the music it made feels much different from what's to be heard in the next leg of Lionel Hampton's odyssey, a Norman Granz-produced quartet session with Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Buddy Rich, recorded in New York on September 2, 1953. While the big band sides are exciting and fun, with a hip vocal by Sonny Parker on "Don't Flee the Scene Salty" and a singalong routine led by Hamp on "Oh Rock," the quartet swings cohesively, stretching out for six, seven or nearly eleven minutes, for the LP era had begun and Norman Granz encouraged extended improvisations. The combination of Oscar Peterson and Lionel Hampton, whether cooking together on "Air Mail Special" or savoring the changes of a ballad like "The Nearness of You" made spirits to soar and sparks to fly.

Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton and His French New Sound, Vol.1 (1955) {Gitanes 549 405-2 rel 2000}
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© 1955, 2000 EmArcy / Universal / Gitanes | 549 405-2
Jazz / Bop / Swing / Vibes

Lionel Hampton joins forces with a number of top French musicians for this 1955 studio session, reissued in Verve's Jazz in Paris series. Three of the four compositions are Hampton's, swinging tunes arranged by Christian Chevalier. The first, "Voice of the North," is primarily for the leader's matchless vibes with the rhythm section, though individual soloists are featured, including fellow Americans Nat Adderley and Benny Bailey on trumpets and David Amram on French horn, as well as clarinetist Maurice Meunier and baritone saxophonist William Boucaya. It's just Hampton and the rhythm section (pianist René Urtreger, bassist Guy Pedersen, and drummer Jean-Baptiste Reilles) for the long workout of "À la French." The one standard of the date, "Crazy Rhythm," suffers from somewhat muddy sound, particularly the overly distant brass. Guitarist Sacha Distel, though admittedly intimidated by Hampton, rises to the leader's level of playing with a fine solo. Overall, this is an enjoyable if not quite essential CD by Lionel Hampton.

One of the most important figures in all of jazz and one who both witnessed and contributed to the genre's development through the bop age, Lionel Hampton was revered as a skilled and creative musician, as an exceptional composer and as a charismatic and exemplary bandleader. He was the first player to showcase the vibraphone as a leading instrument, and was a talented pianist, drummer and singer too. During his career, Hampton worked alongside numerous other jazz greats including Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones - among others - both as a sideman and as leader. Hampton provided opportunities to those who he saw as the upcoming generation of musicians and his keen ear in this regard helped the careers of many future legends. During the 1950s in particular, Hampton and his groups produced some of their finest and most challenging work and it is from this era that the contents of this compilation are drawn. Although not again reaching the same peak as he had done in his glory years, Lionel Hampton remained active for much of the rest of his life, receiving numerous accolades in the process. Among these was being named an American Goodwill Ambassador by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in '57, he was also awarded a National Medal Of Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Lionel Hampton - Sentimental Journey (1985) {2014 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27929}
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© 1985, 2014 Atlantic / Warner Japan / Rhino | WPCR-27929 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Big Band / Swing / Vibraphone

Features 24 bit digital remastering. Comes with a mini description. I have always liked the arrangements in Lionel Hampton & Orchestra recordings. They are powerful, colorful and tasty. As the title 'Sentimental Journey' implies, we're given Lionel Hampton & Orchestra versions of classic standards. And we're blessed with the smooth and lovely vocals of Sylvia Bennett. Made in 1985, the album credits Lionel Hampton for playing not only the vibraphone but also the Yamaha DX-7 (for what? a vibraphone sound? sounds great, though). If you mainly only like Lionel's solo playing, you may not appreciate the big band focus of Lionel Hampton & Orchestra recordings. Solos are shared, but there's a vibraphone solo on every track, of course.

Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton and His French New Sound, Vol.2 (1955) {Gitanes 549 406-2 rel 2000}
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© 1955, 2000 EmArcy / Universal / Gitanes | 549 406-2
Jazz / Bop / Swing / Vibes

Lionel Hampton is joined by a number of top French jazz musicians plus Nat Adderley and American expatriate Benny Bailey for this 1955 studio session, playing Christian Chevalier's charts. "All the Things You Are" features the vibraphonist with the rhythm section, with strong solo efforts by guitarist Sacha Distel and pianist René Urtreger, along with the leader. The low-key, lengthy treatment of "I Cover the Waterfront" almost suggests a Jazz at the Philharmonic session, showcasing nice features for trumpeter Bernard Hullin, tenor saxophonist Maurice Meunier, Urtreger, and Hampton.

Lionel Hampton – The Legacy Of Bluebird (1937-1940) {1990 Bluebird Japan BVCJ-7025~27, 3CD Set}
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© 1937-40, 1990 Bluebird / BMG Victor | BVCJ-7025~27
Jazz / Big Band / Vibraphone

Lionel Hampton was the first jazz vibraphonist and was one of the jazz giants beginning in the mid-'30s. He has achieved the difficult feat of being musically open-minded (even recording "Giant Steps") without changing his basic swing style. Hamp started out as a drummer, playing with the Chicago Defender Newsboys' Band as a youth. His original idol was Jimmy Bertrand, a '20s drummer who occasionally played xylophone. Hampton played on the West Coast with such groups as Curtis Mosby's Blue Blowers, Reb Spikes, and Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders (with whom he made his recording debut in 1929) before joining Les Hite's band, which for a period accompanied Louis Armstrong.

How many living female singers can say that they sang with the Lionel Hampton Big Band? Sylvia Bennett auditioned for Hampton in the early 1980s and was immediately signed as the band's singer. She then toured Florida and performed with the Hampton Orchestra at the second Reagan inaugural as well as the same event for George Bush. Hampton recorded Sentimental Journey in 1985 with Bennett as vocalist, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1987. A second album, There Will Never Be Another You, was recorded two years later. It was never released and continued to languish in the vaults until Sylvia Bennett decided to bring it to the music industry's attention…