Lionel Hampton Library Collection

After jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and all-around-legend Lionel Hampton died in 2002, many of his papers and scores went to the good folks at the University of Idaho, who later established the International Jazz Collections. Lucky for all of us jazz-historian thumpers, the collection devoted to Hampton is now available online…for free. The site includes pics, videos, and a searchable database with over 100 pages of scores, photos, and other coolness that lifelong students of the instrument will definitely want to check out. Why? See for yourself. Here’s Hampton dueling it out with Gene Krupa and Chico Hamilton.

And you didn’t really think that John Blackwell invented stick twirling, did you?


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