Lionel Hampton and Oscar Peterson - s'Wonderful

This is classic Lionel Hampton. It has all his tricks and signature moves. That is Ray Brown on bass and Buddy Rich on drums, so Lionel was right at home.

It's from the mid 1950's so it shows the influence that some of the more modern players like Milt Jackson were already starting to have on his playing. Mostly, his subdivisions are close to a triplet feel, but he does vary it and sometimes play straight eighths and other times, a dotted eighth/sixteenth feel.

There are many examples of his one handed "rolls" where he would strike a note then ghost it in time to prolong it. I used parentheses to notate that.

He was what the beboppers used to call "an excellent speller". A lot of his lines really tell you exactly what the underlying harmony is. There are also examples of his version of chromatically sliding down through changes. That is particularly apparent each time he goes to the bridge.

He never lost track of the fact that the vibes were, in his words, "a drum.. it's all rudiments". The phrase at Measure 285 is nothing but drumming. I can't be sure from the sound, but it almost feels like he is playing paradiddles.

And... he loved to quote other tunes in his solos. Measure 192 "Them There Eyes", Measure 217 "How High the Moon", Measure 226 almost starts "It Might as Well Be Spring", then in measure 257... it's some folk tune, but I can't remember the name of it. If anyone out there remembers what it is, please tell me in the comments below.

Enjoy!