Also known as the “vibes”  you may be asking, what the hell are they?  Well, it looks like a xylophone except that the bars you hit with the mallets are alluminum and the instrument has a sustain pedal.  The pedal behaves a lot like a pedal on a piano and adds seconds to the notes.  Vibes are used a lot in jazz and one of my all time favorite jazz musicians played them like no one else I have ever heard.

Lionel Hampton came into prominence during the big band era.  Initially he was a drummer when he was playing as a teenager in Chicago.  Eventually he moved on to the vibes, grew in talent and ability and ended up playing for Benny Goodman in one of the first intergrated bands around at that time.  Lionel had a way of working with some of the greats in jazz and music in general.  Buddy Rich, Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones and others all had dealings with Hampton.

He formed his own orchestra in the 1940s and that’s when he recorded the tune that he is best known for.  The tune is called “Flying Home” and if you download no other jazz tune from reading this blog, I urge you to download and listen to some version, performed by Hampton, of this tune.  There has rarely been a tune that sounds like it is played with such joy and rarely one that will leave you wanting to dance, tap your toes, or pound on a table along with it.

The best versions, I feel, are the live recordings of it and like most of the jazz greats there are a lot of live recordings to choose from.  Just about everyone that I have heard has been very good.

Hampton himself had some problems, like many jazz musicians, when the 1960s and 70s came around.  He kept playing though, and never lost a recording contract.  He also nurtured young talent, kept forming bands and orchestras and never stopped recording new albums. 

In 1984 the University of Idaho named their annual jazz festival the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.  In 1987 the university renamed its school of music after Lionel.

Hampton was still playing and touring the planet when he suffered a stroke and collapsed on stage in 1991.  Even then he stilled kept active and he played his final live performance in 2001, mere months before he passed away.

So, please, add another name to the list of great jazz musicians.  Give Lionel Hampton a try.  You can do a Google search for him and find some of his collections of music and live recordings.  At the very least, you need to listen to “Flying Home.”

You won’t be sorry.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Els is the kind of musician who got a lot of classical training at one time and then discovered she really loved jazz.  She spent time learning in places like Oslo and now is playing jazz in the states as part of this series.

The Vibes are an instrument probably a lot of people when it comes to jazz.  However, it is a key instrument in the world of jazz.  The great Lionel Hampton is probably the best known vibraphonist.  I have always had a soft spot for the vibes which probably stems from my days in grade school playing the xylophone and glockenspiel during music class.  The Vibes are the much cooler cousins to those instruments.

Els is joined by Dave Rempis on sax.  Jeff Parker plays guitars.  Josh Abrams does the bass.  Mike Reed plays the drums.

The show starts at 9:30 and the cost is $6.

Els will also be doing a show at a club known as Elastic on Thursday and then another show on Sunday at the Hungry Brain.   I suggest you Google those two clubs to find out more.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge