[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 16, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1296-H1299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENDING BIRTHDAY GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES TO LIONEL HAMPTON
Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the
Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 101) extending birthday
greetings and best wishes to Lionel Hampton on the occasion of his 94th
birthday.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. Con. Res. 101
Whereas Lionel Hampton is regarded internationally as one
of the greatest jazz musicians of all time and has shared his
talents with the world for more than eight decades;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has consistently exemplified
acceptance, tolerance, and the celebration of racial and
cultural diversity, by being one of the first black musicians
to perform in venues and events previously open only to white
performers, including performances with the Benny Goodman
Quartet from 1936-1940, and as the first black musician to
perform for a presidential inauguration, that of Harry S
Truman in 1949;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has furthered the cause of cultural
understanding and international communication, receiving a
Papal Medallion from Pope Pius XII, the Israel Statehood
Award, serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United
States, and receiving the Honor Cross for Science and the
Arts, First Class, one of Austria's highest decorations;
Whereas Lionel Hampton is one of the most recorded artists
in the history of jazz;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has opened doors for aspiring
musicians throughout the world, many of whom have established
themselves as giants in the world of jazz, including Cat
Anderson, Terrance Blanchard, Clifford Brown, Conte Candoli,
Pete Candoli, Betty Carter, Ray Charles, Nat ``King'' Cole,
Bing Crosby, Art Farmer, Carl Fontana, Aretha Franklin, Benny
Golson, Al Grey, Slide Hampton, Joe Henderson, Quincy Jones,
Bradford Marsalis, Wes Montgomery, James Moody, Fats Navarro,
Joe Newman, Nicholas Payton, Benny Powell, Buddy Tate, Clark
Terry, Stanley Turrentine, Dinah Washington, and Joe
Williams, among others;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has worked to perpetuate the art
form of jazz by offering his talent, inspiration, and
production acumen to the University of Idaho since 1983, and
in 1985, when the University of Idaho named its school of
music after him, Lionel Hampton became the first jazz
musician to have both a music school and a jazz festival
named in his honor;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has received many national
accolades, awards, and commemorations, including an American
Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the
Arts, Kennedy Center Honors, and a National Medal of Arts;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has received numerous awards and
commendations by local and State governments and has received
acknowledgment from hundreds of civic and performance groups;
Whereas Lionel Hampton's legacy of inspiration, education,
and excellence will be perpetuated by the development of the
Lionel Hampton Center at the University of Idaho, a facility
that combines the finest in performance, scholarship, and
research;
Whereas Lionel Hampton has made a difference in many lives
by inspiring so many who have now become jazz greats, by
reinforcing the importance of education at all levels, and by
showing the world a way of life where love and talent are
shared without reservation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That the Congress, on behalf of the American
people, extends its birthday greetings and best wishes to
Lionel Hampton on the occasion of his 94th birthday.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Idaho (Mr. Otter) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter).
General Leave
Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on S. Con. Res. 101.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Idaho?
There was no objection.
Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the House consider Senate
Concurrent Resolution 101, a resolution introduced by my colleague,
Senator Larry Craig
[[Page H1297]]
from Idaho. This resolution is virtually identical to its House
version, House Concurrent Resolution 363, introduced by my
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
This resolution extends birthday wishes to Lionel Hampton, the
undisputed ``King of the Vibraphone.'' Lionel Hampton, whose enduring
contributions as an extraordinary musician and artistic achievements
symbolize the impact that he has had on jazz and that jazz music has
had on our culture. Happy birthday, Lionel Hampton.
Mr. Speaker, Lionel Hampton has devoted his life to the love and the
belief in jazz and music and education. Lionel Hampton has stated,
``Nothing is more important than doing something that you like, and
that's jazz music. My heart and my soul are in jazz.''
Mr. Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20, 1908. In
the 1930s, Lionel Hampton's musical career hit its stride when he began
playing with such musical luminaries as Louis Armstrong and Benny
Goodman. Lionel Hampton formed his own band in the early 1940s, writing
top-of-the-chart sellers, including his signature tune, ``Flying
Home.'' Lionel Hampton was the first black musician to perform for a
Presidential inauguration, that of Harry S. Truman in 1949.
In his lifetime, Mr. Speaker, Lionel Hampton has received numerous
prestigious awards. These include the title of American Goodwill
Ambassador bestowed on him by President Eisenhower and President Nixon,
along with the Papal Medal from Pope Paul I. President George H.W. Bush
appointed him to the Board of the Kennedy Center, and President Clinton
awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 1992.
Lionel Hampton branched out in his musical career by running his own
publishing companies and his own record label. In the 1980s, Lionel
Hampton founded the Lionel Hampton Development Corporation, which was
responsible for building two multi-million-dollar apartment complexes
in Harlem.
In 1985, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival was launched at the
University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. The festival has become a
nationally acclaimed event, featuring 4 days of concerts, clinics, and
student competitions. In 1987, the music school at the University of
Idaho was named the Lionel Hampton School of Music, becoming the first
musical school of a university to be named for a jazz musician. Lionel
Hampton has stated that this event was the highlight of his
distinguished career.
I might also state, Mr. Speaker, that Lionel Hampton created more
than just a school of music, because that institution today has become
a cultural center for celebrating the diversities that we have in race,
in creed, and in social life and also in music.
We honor Lionel Hampton on his upcoming 94th birthday on April 20,
because Lionel Hampton is, in the words of David Friesen, ``. . . a man
that has truly been blessed, not only with the gift of playing music,
but also the ability to communicate his love of music to so many.''
Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that the House recognize the dedicated
and outstanding accomplishments of Lionel Hampton today. He improved
the lives of all who have heard and been touched by his love for jazz
and his musical talent.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with the gentleman from Idaho in
consideration of this resolution.
Lionel Hampton is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist and
undisputed King of the Vibraphone. Lionel Hampton, who began his career
as a drummer, has been thrilling individuals like the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) with his music for well over 50 years.
Hampton's idol during his early years was drummer Jimmy Bertrand, and
drums became Lionel's first instrument. However, Hampton so impressed
Louis Armstrong that he invited the young drummer to join his big band
rhythm section for a recording session. During a session break,
Armstrong pointed to a set of vibes at the back of his studio and asked
Hampton if he knew how to play them. Taking up the challenge, Lionel,
who was well schooled in his keyboard studies, picked up the mallets
and said he would give it a go. Of course, the rest is history.
In 1936, Benny Goodman signed Lionel Hampton to form the Benny
Goodman Quartet. The Quartet made history, not only for its great
history, but because they were the first racially integrated group of
jazz musicians.
In the 1940s, Lionel Hampton formed his own big band, the Lionel
Hampton Quartet. ``Sunny Side of the Street'' and ``Central Avenue
Breakdown'' are two of his most highly successful records. He flew to
the top of the charts with his recording of ``Flying Home'' in 1942 and
``Hamp's Boogie-Woogie'' in 1943.
Many now-famous musicians and singers had their start with the Lionel
Hampton Orchestra. Among these were Quincy Jones, Cat Anderson, Diana
Washington, Joe Williams, and Aretha Franklin.
Hampton has received innumerable prestigious awards over the years.
He was bestowed the title of Official American Goodwill Ambassador by
Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, the Papal Medal from Pope Paul I, and
the Gold Medal of Paris, France's highest cultural award. In 1992 he
received the highly coveted Kennedy Center Honors Award, and in 1997 he
received the National Medal of the Arts, bestowed by President William
Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White
House.
Lionel Hampton is a beloved classic in American jazz and popular
music, and I join with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and
others in both the House and Senate as sponsors of this resolution in
congratulating Lionel Hampton on his 94th birthday. I thank him for his
contribution to international music.
Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such
time as he may consume to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie).
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
time.
Mr. Speaker, my remarks today are of a personal nature because I
expect that the relationship that most of us have to Lionel Hampton is
in fact personal.
I recall very clearly I think almost the first moment that I became
aware of what was in fact America's contribution to the music of the
world, jazz, when I inadvertently one afternoon was at a friend's
house, and, completely without knowledge of what exactly I was doing, I
had recently taken up the trumpet, and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Conyers) is laughing at the moment because he knows when I say ``taken
up the trumpet,'' I had just picked it up, because I was not able to do
much more than that. I was a living example of ambition over technique
and talent, and I can see that that relates then to a lot of Members
here.
But what had happened was I saw something that said ``Carnegie Hall
Concert, 1938, Benny Goodman Orchestra,'' and I had no idea at that
time as a little boy what that might involve.
For those who are familiar with it, this was the concert that was
made almost as an afterthought, with a single overhead microphone, tape
that was in Benny Goodman's closet for many years, finally found it,
and that was when the quartet that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Davis) cited, the first integrated quartet, not integrated in terms of
musicians, integrated in terms of America's true voice of jazz, with
white and black musicians, had been gathered together, with Teddy
Wilson on piano and Gene Kruppa on drums, and, of course, Benny Goodman
playing the lead in the quartet on clarinet and Lionel Hampton on the
vibes.
When I heard that quartet playing, I had never heard anything like it
in my life. It is so vivid in my mind, even now as I am speaking. And
it is an emotional experience, because we have certain transcendent
moments in our lives, and that was not just one of them, but perhaps
one that most formed the world for me, a world view at the time, as to
what was possible. The excitement of it, the vitality of it, the
vividness of the playing, the exuberance, it was everything and
anything that could be expected and hoped
[[Page H1298]]
for in American music and, by extension then, our gift, as I said
before, to the world.
Lionel Hampton was a particularly meaningful part of that, because,
along with Gene Kruppa on the drums, I do not think you can find,
except perhaps in the hero of both of them, Louis Armstrong, anyone in
jazz more enthusiastic, more full of life, more expressive of the
innate vitality of jazz, than Gene Kruppa and Lionel Hampton playing
together; and that excited me as a young boy. It motivated me in trying
to do the best I could with that trumpet, becoming involved in a jazz
band in high school; and I cannot think, as I look back and I try to
recall in my life to this point, of a single minute, a single moment,
when I was not happy playing music, that it did not give me a sense of
self that was always by definition optimistic, I can tell my
colleagues, if they ever heard me play.
{time} 1445
I had a great tone, though. That was the thing. If only Hampton heard
it, he would have said, kid, you got a great tone; too bad you missed
out on the talent part. I cannot think of a single moment when I was
not happy, not because I had any ambition to play the way that Hampton
and Krupa and Goodman and Wilson played, but that that was my way of
sharing with them the creative instinct that is in all of us and which
had been freed in all of us by Lionel Hampton and all of the pioneers
of jazz in this country.
It is fitting, of course, that we celebrate this today because Lionel
Hampton is, of course, approaching almost a century. He has achieved
iconic status, and for good reason, because that talent and that
liveliness and that exuberance for life and for his music has been
carried over into every venue in which he has exposed himself to the
American public and, in fact, the world. If there is anything that
characterizes Lionel Hampton, and for those who have not had the
opportunity to see him in person, to listen to him in person, they have
missed out on one of the greatest experiences of life. There is no one
in music, there is no one in life that exudes more of the core of
creativity and what it means to be a human being in terms of that
creativity than Lionel Hampton.
I want to conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying that we, as a species,
differentiate ourselves from all of the other species on the earth by
our ability to reflect and our ability to imagine. As I reflect on this
life force called Lionel Hampton, and as I reflect on the capacity to
create that he exemplifies, I can think of no greater example of what
it means to be a good and true human being and creative person, a life
force of which we can all be proud to have known musically and to be
able to honor today.
Mr. OTTER: Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have been told that music is a
universal language, and it is my pleasure to yield such time as he
might consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), one who is
known as a culturist, but also an impresario himself.
(Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend
remarks.)
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Davis), the ranking member of the subcommittee for yielding me this
time, and I thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter), the chairman of
the subcommittee.
I am delighted to be here, because Lionel Hampton is coming to the
Capitol tomorrow and I am hoping that a number of us will be able to
celebrate, not just his birthday, but his life and works. The gentleman
from Idaho and a number of people from the University of Idaho will be
here and we will be able to see and enjoy the company of this great
legend.
Now, some wonder why on earth would a university in Moscow, Idaho, of
all places, decide to name its institution after Lionel Hampton. Well,
I am glad that question was asked, because years ago, and I think it
was in the 1930s, someone there used to call Lionel Hampton and beg him
to either come in or send jazz musicians and Lionel Hampton would
always come out to Idaho. And gradually, over the years, the jazz
department, the music department began to grow, because no one could
figure out why all of these people were flying in from New York and Los
Angeles to celebrate with the University of Idaho. Lionel Hampton would
either go himself or, if he could not go, he would send someone, and
the school has become one of the famous music institutions that grants
degrees in the country.
So with this American music called jazz came the references that were
made by my colleague about how the social, musical, religious and
racial diversity grew up in that State and out of that university, and
now it brings in people from all over the world. I was privileged to be
there one year myself.
So this is a wonderful occasion. I am confident that this resolution
will be unanimously supported by the Members. I just wanted to add a
comment about Lionel Hampton the musician, the human being, because he
is one of the warmest, most outgoing people that one could have ever
hoped to meet, and when he performs, it is like he has to put
everything into every performance. Every performance is his best;
complete, exhaustive, exuberant. He goes up and down the aisles and out
into the street and anywhere else, and his music is infectious.
Everybody goes along with it.
As the gentleman from Hawaii was mentioning about the epiphany that
can occur when one listens to great jazz, and Lionel Hampton, when we
think of all of the people that he has been associated with that came
out of his group, we understand why.
National Public Radio did a profile on Lionel Hampton, and I am going
to include it in my remarks. It details all of the people that have
been connected with this great musician.
Now, it is only appropriate to mention that he was not the first
great jazz vibraphonist. As a matter of fact, Red Norvo was the first
person to popularize that instrument. But his enthusiasm and his
learning of music, because he was originally a drummer, but he studied
piano, as has been indicated, but he laid the groundwork for the
greatest jazz bebop vibraphonist, Milt Jackson, the late Milt Jackson,
who was at his birthday, another birthday celebration in New York, and
he came to pay tribute. Bill Cosby was there, who was another great
jazz aficionado.
Mr. Speaker, it is just a marvelous thing that we here in the House
and in the Senate would collaborate to get this resolution out just in
time for Lionel Hampton to make his appearance on the Hill tomorrow.
So I congratulate the committee for its expeditious work, and I look
forward to presenting this resolution to Lionel Hampton tomorrow.
Biography
There is some confusion about the year of Lionel Hampton's
birth, which has sometimes been given as 1908. Around 1916 he
moved with his family to Chicago, where he began his career
playing drums in various lesser bands. In the late 1920s he
was based in Culver City, California, where he worked in
clubs and took part in several recording sessions (1930) with
Louis Armstrong, who encouraged him to take up vibraphone.
Hampton soon became the leading jazz performer on this
instrument, and achieved wide recognition through his many
film appearances with Les Hite's band. After playing
informally with Benny Goodman in 1936 he began to work in
Goodman's small ensembles, with which he performed and
recorded regularly until 1940; as a result he became one of
the most celebrated figures of the swing period, and his
resounding success allowed him to form his own big band in
1940.
This group, which at times has included musicians of the
stature of Cat Anderson, Illinois Jacquet, Clifford Brown,
and Quincy Jones, has been one of the most long-lived and
consistently popular large ensembles in jazz. From the 1950s
Hampton undertook numerous ``goodwill'' tours to Europe,
Japan, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, and
made a large number of television appearances, attracting a
huge and enthusiastic international following.
Hampton performed in the Royal Festival Hall, London, in
1957, and played at the White House for President Carter in
1978; during the same year he formed his own record label,
Who's Who in Jazz, to issue mainstream recordings. In the mid
1980s his band continued to draw capacity crowds throughout
the world. Hampton was honored as alumnus of the year by the
University of Southern California in 1983.
Hampton was not the first jazz musician to take up
vibraphone (Red Norvo had preceded him in the late 1920s),
but it was he who gave the instrument an identity in jazz,
applying a wide range of attacks and generating remarkable
swing on an instrument otherwise known for its bland,
disembodied sound. Undoubtedly his best work was done with
the Goodman Quartet from 1936-1940, when he revealed a fine
ear for small-ensemble improvisation and an unrestrained,
ebullient manner
[[Page H1299]]
as a soloist. The big band format was probably better suited
to the display of his flamboyant personality and flair for
showmanship, but after a few early successes, especially the
riff tunes Flying Home, Down Home Jump, and Hey Bab-Ba-Rebop,
the group was too often content to repeat former trimuphs
for its many admirers. Hampton has at times also appeared
as singer, played drums with enormous vitality, and
performed with curious success asa pianist, using only two
fingers in the manner of vibraphrone mallets.
Lionel Hampton, former Presidential appointed Ambassador of
Goodwill, the holder of over 15 Honorary Doctor of Music
Degrees, awarded the highest honors from the Kennedy Center
of the Performing Arts and, the National Commission On The
Endowment for the Arts, was recently honored at the White
House in August 1998 in celebration of his 90th birthday.
This musical legend has been the Co-Honorary Chairman of the
International Agency for Minority Artist Affairs (IAMAA)
since 1978. Not only a musician, Lionel Hampton is a
businessman and, has developed housing projects across this
nation and, is a leading philanthropist for community-based
initiatives.
Mr. Hampton, reigning King of the Vibraphone for over a
half a century, begain his musical career as a drummer. Born
in Birmingham, Alabama in 1908, he spent most of his
childhood in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he first studied music
under very strict Dominican nuns. His tools then were Louis
Armstrong and a drummer named Jimmy Bertrand, who tossed his
sticks in the air as lights blinked from inside his bass drum
(a style Hamp still uses today in some of his shows).
In 1930, Lionel finally got to meet Louis Armstrong.
Playing in a backup band for ``Satchmo'' at a nightclub in
L.A. Hamp so impressed Louis that he invited him to a
recording session. Armstrong spotted a set of vibes in the
studio and asked Hamp if he knew how to play them. Never one
to refuse a challenge, Lionel (who knew keyboards well)
picked up the mallets. The first tune they cut was ``Memories
of You,'' a new number just written by Eubie Blake, and it
became a hit for Louis. John Hammond, great jazz impresario,
heard the record and began touting Lionel's vibes work to
Benny Goodman.
In August, 1936, Hammon flew out to L.A. and brough Goodman
in to the Paradise Club to hear Lionel play. At that time,
Benny had a trio within his big band featuring Teddy Wilson
on piano and Gene Krupa on drums. ``Next thing you know,''
recalls Hamp, ``I was out there on stage jamming with these
great musicians. That's one session I'll never forget''
To make a long story short, the Benny Goodman Trio became a
quartet and made history-not only with the brilliant music
they produced, but because they were the first racially-
integrated group in the nation. The foursome recorded
``Memories of You,'' ``Moonglow,'' and ``Dinah.'' Hamp spent
the next four years with Goodman as the quartet developed
into the hottest jazz group in the world.
In the early 1940's, Lionel left Benny Goodman to form his
own big band after the release of a couple of wildly
successfully RCA singles under his own name: ``Sunny Side of
the Street'' (on which he sang as well as playing vibes) and
``Central Avenue Breakdown'' (on which he played piano with
two fingers, using them like vibes mallets.)
His first big band included such sidemen as Dexter Gordon
and Illinois Jacquet, and he busted the charts with his
recording of ``Flying Home'' in 1942 and ``Hamp's Boogie
Woogie'' in 1943. Among the sidemen who got their start with
Lionel Hampton are Quincy Jones, Wes Montgomery, Clark Terry,
Cat Anderson, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman, Fats Navarro, Charlie
Mingus, Al Grey, Art Farmer, and, of course, the singers:
Dinah Washington (who was discovered-and named-by Hamp while
working in the powder room of Chicago's Regal Theater), Joe
Williams, Betty (Be Bop) Carter the great Aretha Franklin,
among others.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time, and I urge passage of this resolution.
Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, far be it for me to add to the eloquence of
the gentleman from Michigan, but I would just say that Lionel Hampton
has been a groundbreaker throughout his career, throughout his life. He
has been an internationally acclaimed giant of music, and because he is
an internationally acclaimed giant of music, he has an been
internationally acclaimed giant of communication, because we find many
times in music one voice and we find one spirit, and that is what
Lionel Hampton has brought to the world. We are to celebrate his 94th
birthday.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask in closing that all Members support this
resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) that the House suspend
the rules and concur in the Senate concurrent resolution, S. Con. Res.
101.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate concurrent resolution
was concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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