[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LIONEL HAMPTON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 1998

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 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, on this his 90th birthday, I would like 
to share with you and this House, some of the highlights 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, Alabama 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 40s.
  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 fame 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 
70s, and upon completion, built the 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 Corporation has built more 
than 500 low and moderate-income apartments in my Congressional 
District of Harlem alone.
  Lionel Hampton holds more than fifteen honorary doctorates and 
received the Gold Medal of Paris, its highest cultural award, from its 
Mayor, Jacques Shirac.
  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.
  Happy birthday Lionel Hampton.

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