Doc Skinner remembers long-time friend Lionel Hampton’s life, legacy
A vibraphonist, a bandleader and a mentor to many, Lionel Hampton left a legacy in the jazz community and at the University of Idaho.
“Lionel was an incredible man and musician,” said Lynn ‘Doc’ Skinner, who was the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival director for 29 years. “He was African-American and I’m white, but we were dear friends. He cared so much about people. He believed that music can touch people and is best when shared.”
University of Idaho Library Special Collections
Lionel Hampton plays a Trixon vibraphone at a
workshop in Germany. Middle: Lionel Hampton plays the
drums.
Skinner will share stories about his friend Lionel Hampton and Jazz Fest at his workshop presentation “I Remember Hamp: His Life and Music,” at 1 p.m. Thursday in the Clearwater Room in the Idaho Commons. His friendship with Lionel Hampton was a close one that lasted until Hampton’s death in 2002, he said. Jazz Fest started in 1967, but it wasn’t until 1984 that it received its current name and a pledge of support from Hampton. It was the first jazz festival named for a jazz musician and the first to be named for an African-American musician, something that meant the world to Hampton, Skinner said.
Skinner said Hampton became a proponent of the festival and donated $15,000 to Jazz Fest after visiting.
“That was when we knew we had to honor this man and rename the festival,” Skinner said.
When Skinner called Hampton to tell him about the renaming, Skinner said he could hear Hampton begin to sob over the phone. Skinner said Hampton used his connections to bring in world-class jazz musicians to Jazz Fest to promote his mission of bringing jazz to a younger generation.
“You wouldn’t even be off the stage after performing and Lionel would ask, ‘What about next year?'” Skinner said.
The festival resonated with the famous musicians who attended as well.
“Lionel told me about how excited the singer Sarah Vaughan was about what was happening at UI when he ran into her at an airport. ‘You will not believe it when you come out on that stage at Idaho and there are thousands of young people. I’ve played all over the world and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Skinner said.
In 1986, Dizzy Gillespie was scheduled to perform at Jazz Fest, but received an eye infection the night before he was to leave to come to Moscow, Skinner said.
“You know how Gillespie is known for how he puffed his cheeks to play trumpet? The doctors told him if all that pressure in his cheeks got into that eye it would damage his vision. So he couldn’t come that year,” Skinner said.
Undeterred, Hampton was determined to make sure the students got to watch someone special, Skinner said.
“It was too late to notify the press, so Lionel went onstage that night and said ‘I’ve got some good news and some bad news,'” Skinner said. “‘First of all, my dear friend Dizzy can’t make it tonight because of illness so he’ll have to make it another year.'”
Then, Skinner said Hampton turned everything around.
University of Idaho Library Special Collections
Lionel Hampton plays the drums.
“‘We have one of the most incredible young singers. Doc’s been working with her for years and she’s going to sing with my band. You’re going to love her. Meet Dianne Reeves,'” Skinner said.
Dianne Reeves is now a Grammy award-winning artist and will perform at this year’s Jazz Fest.Among Skinner’s favorite jazz festival memories is when singer Ella Fitzgerald performed in the Memorial Gym at Jazz Fest.
“No one believed she was actually coming to Idaho,” he said. “We kept on getting calls asking if any of the rumors about her quitting the event were true. We told them ‘No, Ella is definitely coming.'”
At the same times Fitzgerald was to perform, the Vandals were playing an important game in the Big Sky basketball tournament in the Kibbie Dome.
“Ella refused to start her concert until the basketball game ended so the kids and the university students could come and hear her,” Skinner said. “Like many jazz festival artists past and present, Ella Fitzgerald cared about the festival’s aim to bring jazz and the joy of music to the youth.”
The concert didn’t start until nearly 10 p.m., but Fitzgerald was happy to accommodate for the UI students.
“The Idaho Vandals won, so Ella scatted some ‘Go Vandals’ into one of her songs. The crowd went crazy and everyone had a lot of fun with it,” Skinner said.
During her stay in Moscow, Skinner accompanied her to a reception at a friend’s house and it seemed everyone on the Palouse wanted to meet the world-famous jazz singer. Despite the attention, Skinner noticed how kind and sincere she was for each person.
Hampton’s drive led Jazz Fest to inviting some jazz musicians from the Soviet Union to perform in 1989. The musicians were amazed by how easy it was for them to get food compared to back home, Skinner said, and he and his wife are still friends with those musicians.
Skinner said musicians who come to the festival appreciate how much of an impact it has on the children who participate.
“It really gives the kids a chance to do what they love and grow in it,” Skinner said. “They also get to see amazing artists. These are opportunities that most of these kids would never have otherwise. Who knew it could happen in Moscow, Idaho?”
Skinner said he was grateful to call Hampton a friend until his death.
“To be asked to be one of his pall bearers at his funeral was certainly one of the great moments of my life,” Skinner said.
Shannon Kelly can be reached at [email protected]