Lionel Hampton

vibraphone, drums · 1908–2002 · Louisville (Kentucky)

He popularized the vibraphone in jazz and in November 1936 joined Benny Goodman's trio, which became a quartet, one of the first mixed groups to perform in public. He left Goodman in 1940 to found his own big band, for which "Flying Home" (1942) became the signature tune.

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Styles

• Swing, big bands
• Jump blues, R&B

Landmark tracks

• Hot Mallets (1939)
• Flying Home (1942)
• Everybody's Somebody's Fool (1949)

Cited in 2 radio episodes

• Mar 25, 2026: Dinah Washington la reine du blues, troisième partie (Pour qui sonne le jazz, TSF Jazz, in French)
• Sep 5, 2022: Lionel Hampton live in Paris 1956 (Jazzlive, TSF Jazz, in French)

Sources

• Source

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