1992: How Lionel Hampton invented the jazz vibraphone

At the time of this interview Lionel Hampton (1908 – 2002), vibraphonist, band leader and composer, had been a working musician for 62 years when he spoke with Ross Reynolds.

Hampton introduced the vibraphone as a jazz instrument, wrote jazz standards (“Flying Home”), performed with jazz greats Louie Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa , Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, and discovered Dinah Washington and Joe Williams. He also recruited Seattleites Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson for his bands.

He talks about breaking the color barrier with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

The University of Idaho's annual jazz festival is named the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and in 1987 the UI's school of music was renamed for Hampton, the first university music school named for a jazz musician.