Lionel Hampton

Object Details

Exhibition Label

Lionel Hampton began his musical career as a drummer until Louis Armstrong encouraged him to take up the vibraphone in the early 1930s. Hampton introduced that instrument to the jazz idiom and came to the attention of Benny Goodman in 1936. When Goodman formed the Benny Goodman Quartet, Hampton played "vibes" and went on to direct the group's recordings of such favorites as "Dinah" and "Exactly Like You." In 1940 Goodman disbanded the quartet, and Hampton struck out on his own, incorporating such musicians as Charles Mingus, Quincy Jones, and Charlie Parker into the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Among the top bands in the country, the orchestra played all the popular clubs, as well as Carnegie Hall and Harlem's Apollo Theatre. Hampton's high-energy spontaneity was legendary: "We got no routine," he once said. "We just act the way the spirit moves us."

Provenance

The artist; gift 1997 NPG

Data Source

National Portrait Gallery

Artist

Frederick J. Brown, 1945 - 2012

Sitter

Lionel Hampton, 20 Apr 1908 - 31 Aug 2002

Date

1997

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on behalf of the People of New York

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Stretcher: 244.2 x 182.9 x 4.8cm (96 1/8 x 72 x 1 7/8")

Frame: 253.7 x 197.8 x 7cm (99 7/8 x 77 7/8 x 2 3/4")

Type

Painting