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Program #324 (April 25 at 8:00pm)
Lionel Hampton was the first jazz vibraphonist and was one of the jazz giants beginning in the mid- 30s. He has achieved the difficult feat of being musically open-minded (even recording Giant Steps ) without changing his basic swing style.
Hamp started out as a drummer, playing with the Chicago Defender Newsboys Band as a youth. His original idol was Jimmy Bertrand, a 20s drummer who occasionally played xylophone. Hampton played on the West Coast with such groups as Curtis Mosby s Blue Blowers, Reb Spikes, and Paul Howard s Quality Serenaders (with whom he made his recording debut in 1929) before joining Les Hite s band, which for a period accompanied Louis Armstrong.
Joe Chambers –
Samba de Maracatu (Blue Note): “On Samba de Maracatu, Chambers asserts himself more as a mallet player, particularly on the vibraphone. Throughout the album, he uses the vibraphone as the lead melodic and improvisational voice that often converses with Merritt’s piano accompaniments and solos. While Samba de Maracatu isn’t a Brazilian jazz album in this strictest sense, Chambers utilizes various rhythms and indigenous Brazilian percussion instruments on several pieces, including the title track, which references the syncretic Afro-Brazil rhythms that were originated in the north-east region of Brazil.” (http://www.bluenote.com/joe-chambers-samba-de-maracatu-out-feb-26/) Chambers offers three original songs and spreads out creating waves of music from comrades including Bobby Hutcherson’s ”Visions”, Horace Silver’s “Ecaroh” and Wayne Shorter’s “Rio” and also reaches out for a few deep standards including “You And The Night And The Music