HAMPTON IS VIBRANT IN 78TH YEAR

When Lionel Hampton talks, every sentence seems to end with an exclamation point.

His ebullience undimmed, he has chosen this year to mark what is being called his 60th year in music. True, he came to Los Angeles in 1927 and began working his way up as a drummer with local bands, but he had several prior active years in Chicago (with the Chicago Defender Newsboys’ Band and other small groups). But whatever anniversary he wants to call it will be fine with his admirers. How does a 78-year-old vibraphonist celebrate 60 years in jazz? One way will come at noon Friday on the steps of City Hall, where, after Mayor Tom Bradley has proclaimed “Lionel Hampton Day,” the 60 hands of 30 vibraphonists will hammer out a chorus or more (don’t bet against 60 choruses as long as Hampton is in charge) of “Flyin’ Home,” his anthem since his band recorded it in 1942.

This is part of the buildup to an appearance Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl, on the second day of the ninth annual Playboy Jazz Festival.

“Wait till you hear some of the young guys I have in the band now,” Hampton said recently. “Richie Price, my high-note trumpet man--this cat is fantastic. And I have two terrific saxophonists, Keith Fiddurant on soprano and Manny Boyd on alto. A lot of these cats are graduates of the Berklee College of Music in Boston.”

Hampton’s personnel, integrated for many years, is now about half black, half white.

“That seems to be the right balance to get the blend I want,” he said, without further explanation.

That none of his sidemen will be products of the Lionel Hampton School of Music is understandable, since the school was officially launched less than four months ago. This is the first conservatory named for a jazz musician, though there is a Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington.

Since Monday, Hampton has been conducting seminars on the campus in Moscow, Ida. The school is part of the University of Idaho.

“We have around 200 students in the school now. They’re coming from Utah, Oregon, Canada, all over. We have a faculty of close to 20 teachers, holding classes in piano, other instruments, singing, theory, jazz history, you name it.

“The attendance is going to go way up during the next year. They have some incredible student ensembles. I heard one that sounded great and they told me, ‘This is the No. 4 band!’ And one time when I was there I heard a marvelous choral group singing my ‘Midnight Sun.’ Man, these kids really knock me out.”

Hampton seems to have his fingers not only on the vibes mallets but in numerous other pies. He has a publishing company and a record company.

An album due out on his Glad-Hamp label (named for his late wife Gladys, a sharp businesswoman who steered him along the road to wealth) will find him in the company of Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Hank Jones, Bucky Pizarelli and other virtuosi. The LP title is “One of a Kind.”

Hampton also has extensive real estate holdings. Soon he will make trips to Atlanta, where he plans to build a community of 355 homes on 122 acres he acquired some time back.

“Somebody asked me how did I get 122 acres in Atlanta,” he said. “I told them, I got it with money!”

In the 1970s, Hampton developed the Lionel Hampton Houses and the Gladys Hampton Houses in New York, both flourishing communities now.

Meanwhile, though, he still answers the eternal call of the one-night stands: Monday at a ballroom in Hemet, Tuesday at Orange County Performing Arts Center, Wednesday at the Community Center in Oceanside.

He may not be as energetic as his stage personality would indicate, but his facility as an improvising jazzman and his keen ear for young talents on the rise continue to amaze everyone within earshot.

Watching him at work, one visualizes a 60-year panorama, with its special milestones: The night in 1936 Benny Goodman found him and persuaded him to join what became the Goodman Quartet. The Los Angeles date in 1940 when he introduced his own orchestra. The numerous tours of Europe, Japan, Australia, Africa, the Middle East. The many White House appearances for Democratic and Republican presidents (Hampton remains as staunch a Republican as ever).

Obviously, Hampton could afford to opt for luxurious, affluent retirement, but that is simply not his style. As long as the airplanes and his mallets hold up, clearly he will be flying home and flying right back out again.