Lionel Hampton is not only one of jazz’s great historic figures, but with his surefooted sense of swing and rich melodic imagination, he’s also one of its all-time finest players. During Hampton’s appearance on Marian McPartland’s award-winning radio program in 1989, just prior to Hampton’s eightieth birthday, the ever-so-gracious McPartland complements Hamp’s playing-and singing-with sensitivity and draws him into illuminating conversation about the first appearance of the vibraphone on a jazz record (his 1930 solo on Louis Armstrong’s “Confessin'”) and the origins of the famous Benny Goodman Quartet.
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