Fresh Sound presents 17 solid selections retrieved from
Lionel Hampton's brief involvement with the Jazztone label. Recorded in New York City during the summer of 1956, this mixture of standards, ballads, and original work represents mainstream jazz at its warmest, friendliest, and most accessible.
Hamp's front line consisted of trumpeter
Ray Copeland, trombonist
Jimmy Cleveland, and tenor saxophonist
Lucky Thompson; the rhythm people were pianist Oscar Dennard, bassist
Oscar Pettiford, and drummer
Gus Johnson.
Hamp played vibraphone on all but two of the tracks; he is heard at the piano on "Look! Four Hands" and does marvelous things with a marimba on
Gerry Mulligan's "Line for Lyons." The Jazztone record label existed between the years 1955 and 1957. It was a short-lived outgrowth of the Concert Hall Society, a predominately classical mail order company; jazz historian George T. Simon served as Jazztone's A&R director. Although portions of the Jazztone catalog were marketed through retail record stores, availability and distribution were often dicey. Jazztone recordings were reissued in Germany on that country's version of the Jazztone label; in France on Guilde du Jazz, and in the U.S. on Hall of Fame Records. Fresh Sound's Jazztone reissue campaign is a milestone in the exciting world of revived and rediscovered jazz, as this long-forgotten catalog contains what adds up to some of the best mainstream jazz recordings of the mid-'50s, comparable to what
Norman Granz was achieving with his Verve label during that time period.
Lionel Hampton's portion of the Jazztone story epitomizes the label's dedication to the type of jazz that had its roots in the mingled traditions of swing, bop, and cool. ~ arwulf arwulf