[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 199 (Thursday, December 14, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2356-E2357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A SALUTE TO LIONEL HAMPTON

                                 ______


                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 13, 1995

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Lionel Hampton, a 
great artist, a great American, a great ambassador, and one of the 
greatest musicians America has ever known.
  In tribute to Lionel Hampton, I would like to share with you and this 
House, some of he highlights of the life of this extraordinary man.
  Lionel Hampton, the reigning king of the vibraphone for over half a 
century, and one of the few surviving internationally renowned jazz 
talents of the swing era, was born in Birmingham, AL on April 20, 1908. 
He was a member of the Benny Goodman Quartet which was the first 
racially integrated group of jazz musicians in the Nation, but left the 
group to form his own big band in the early 1940's.
  His original ballad, Midnight Sun, written with Johnny Mercer and 
Sonny Burke, has become an American jazz and popular classic. His two 
major symphonic works, the King David Suite and Blues Suite have been 
performed by many leading symphonic orchestras throughout the world.
  Nevertheless, whether you are familiar with his musical 
accomplishments, over the years, Lionel Hampton has known no status 
where he was not eagerly accepted, as he has been well received the 
world over by Presidents, politicians, kings, and queens. His very 
music has caused the walls of Communist nations to come tumbling down.
  Allow me now to share with you Lionel Hampton, the constituent, the 
friend, the community leader. His frame and greatness have not let him 
forget the homeless and the hopeless. Long a supporter of public 
housing, he developed the Lionel Hampton Houses in the early 1970's, 
and upon completion, built the 

[[Page E2357]]
Gladys Hampton Houses, named for his late wife. To this day, those 
projects are considered among the best in the Nation.
  The Lionel Hampton Community Development Corp. has built more than 
500 low- and moderate-income apartments in my congressional district of 
Harlem alone.
  Lionel Hampton holds more than 15 honorary doctorates and received 
the gold medal of Paris, its highest cultural award, from its mayor, 
Jacques Chirac.
  He was appointed to the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center in 
1991 by President George Bush, and in December 1992, he was awarded a 
prestigious Kennedy Center honor for his lifetime career achievements 
as a musician and teacher. Since then, he continues to produce 
educational events and considers the real highlight of his career as 
having the music school at the University of Idaho named for him, the 
Lionel Hampton School of Jazz.
  Whether you are black or white, Democratic or Republican, liberal or 
conservative, Lionel Hampton represents the very best of America.

                          ____________________