Lionel Hampton Still Doing His Thing at 90

Big-band swing music may be making a comeback these days, but for one legendary bandleader it’s never gone away. It’s been nearly 60 years since vibist Lionel Hampton, who turned 90 in April, started recording with the large bands he has led almost continuously ever since.

On Sunday night, at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater, he will be on stage leading his 14-piece New York band in a benefit for the Lionel and Gladys Hampton Jazz History Education Foundation--an organization dedicated to “teaching the history of jazz as a uniquely American art form.”

“I’m looking forward to playing out there,” said Hampton earlier this week from his New York apartment. “I’m bringing along with me a great trumpet section with Tony Barrero, a great high-note trumpeter from Cuba, and Kuni Mikami, a Japanese piano player, and Jerry Weldon, a great tenor sax player. The regular size of the band is 17 pieces, but we’ve got a book that was written to be played either way. And, believe me, it’ll still have all the juice.”

A good part of that “juice” undoubtedly will include such Hampton hits as “Flying Home” and “Hamp’s Boogie Woogie”--numbers which managed to keep the jitterbugs spinning while simultaneously serving as a framework for some of the extraordinary soloists who played in various Hampton units. Among his better-known sidemen: saxophonists Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon and Arnett Cobb; trumpeters Cat Anderson, Joe Wilder and Snooky Young; trombonist Al Grey; and bassist Charles Mingus--to name only a few.

“I had some good players with me,” says Hampton, “but I’ve got some good ones now, too. And I always like to encourage the younger guys, to see what they can do.”

Except when he is on stage, happily standing behind his vibes, Hampton mainly uses a wheelchair these days as the result of strokes in the early and mid-’90s. His problems were compounded early last year when a fire in his apartment destroyed virtually all his historic memorabilia, including photographs, manuscripts, recordings, his piano and his vibes.

But Hampton shrugs off the problems by insisting on remaining active. His Los Angeles appearance winds up a yearlong world tour that was highlighted by a late celebration of his birthday in July at the White House. During the West Wing event, he invited President Bill Clinton on stage and offered him a tenor saxophone for a run through “My Funny Valentine.” The president obliged, playing a solo that prompted Hampton to announce, “I think I’ve got me a new saxophone player!”

In addition to his touring, Hampton’s principal interests focus on his educational activities, which include his foundation and his continuing support of the Lionel Hampton School of Music and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.

“We teach music history right from the bottom to the top,” he explains. “Because we want to be sure that all those famous jazz pioneers get known by each young generation as it comes along.”

The jazz festival, which takes place in February, draws a large audience of fans and students. This year, more than 30,000 people attended the four-day event, with 15,000 students from the U.S. (including many from Southern California) and Canada participating in a variety of seminars and competitions.

For students at the festival, the schedule includes a virtually nonstop round of activities.

“I have artist seminars in the classrooms during the day,” says Hampton, “and then performances at night. I’m there every year with my band. And then we bring in guest stars. We’ve had Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, all the great jazz singers, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, everybody.”

Any time Hampton returns to Los Angeles, he views it as a warm reminder of his earliest years. A student in the late ‘20s at the USC School of Music, based in Culver City, he played drums--and later vibes--with Louis Armstrong, Les Hite and others, and was an active participant in the then-burgeoning Central Avenue jazz scene.

“That was quite a time,” he says. “I played up and down Central Avenue at all the places, the Club Alabam, you name it, I was there.”

And, remarkably, he is still there, still leading bands that perform with a rare brand of fire and enthusiasm, still playing the vibes with the drive and swing that defined the instrument from the very beginning.

“I’ve been doing this for at least 60 years,” he says. “And you know what? It still gives me plenty of kicks to get out there in front of my band and do my thing.”

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* Lionel Hampton’s 90th Birthday Party and Benefit Concert, featuring Lionel Hampton and his New York band, Lalo Schifrin and Friends, Ernie Andrews, the Gerald Wiggins Trio and Harry “Sweets” Edison. Sunday at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m. Reserved seating, $55; General admission, $40. Pre-concert reception and champagne toast with the performers, $75, including reserved seating, 6:30 p.m. (818) 801-0130.