Book summary

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1914, multi-instrumentalist Lionel Hampton got his musical start playing in several bands around Chicago, frequently in nightclubs owned by gangster Al Capone, whom Hampton regarded as something of a hero for his policy of employing black musicians. After he joined the house band at Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in Los Angeles, California, he recorded with Louis Armstrong, using a vibraphone for the first time. As Hampton recounts in his autobiography, HAMP, his big musical break came when he joined Benny Goodman's first integrated small group with Gene Krupa and Teddy Wilson. However, he claims the main influence in his life was his wife, Gladys, who also acted as his manager until her death in 1971. As well as his many musical exploits, which found him still professionally active after over 60 years, Hampton also recalls his significant social and political involvements, like his financial sponsorship of middle and lower income housing projects in New York's Harlem district, and his enthusiastic support of his longtime friend, President George H. W. Bush. Conversationally written and packed with colorful anecdotes, HAMP is a noteworthy account of the colorful life of this jazz giant.