Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombone, composer and arranger.Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 1818, (1995) – As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelhorn.
At the age of 12, Slide played in his family's Indianapolis jazz band, The Duke Hampton Band. By 1952, at the age of 20, he was performing at Carnegie Hall with the Lionel Hampton Band. He played with the Buddy Johnson's R&B band from 1955 to 1956, then became a member of Maynard Ferguson's band (1957–1959), where he played and arranged, providing excitement on such popular tunes as "The Fugue," "Three Little Foxes" and "Slide's Derangement." While with the Ferguson band he composed and arranged memorable charts such as "Frame For the Blues," "Go East Young Man," "Newport," Sometimes I Feel Lika A Motherless Child," "Ole" and "'Round Midnight." In 1958, he recorded with trombone masters on the classic release of Melba Liston, Melba Liston and Her 'Bones. As his reputation grew, he soon began working with bands led by Art Blakey, Tadd Dameron, Barry Harris, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, and Max Roach, contributing both original compositions and arrangements. In 1962, he formed the Slide Hampton Octet, with horn players Freddie Hubbard, and George Coleman. The band toured the U.S. and Europe and recorded on several labels.
On June 4, 2006, Hampton and long time manager and writing partner Anthony-charles:Bey promoted his first self funded concert at The Tribeca PAC in New York City (a tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim) and debuted the Slide Hampton™ Ultra-Big Band. The concert was the first of many planned for the near future.
In 2009, Hampton completed four new compositions collectively titled "A Tribute to African-American Greatness". The songs honored Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Barack Obama. The songs contained accompanying lyrics written by Hampton and manager/writing partner Anthony-charles:Bey, arrangements honoring Thelonious Monk, Thad Jones, Eddie Harris, Dexter Gordon and Gil Evans round out the program. He completed two new Big Band arrangements – "In Case of Emergency" and "The Drum Song" (both Hampton originals). These two songs (and others) will be available exclusively to universities and other educational institutions through Slide Hampton™ Musique/Music Publishing-in-trust.
Hampton was a resident of Orange, New Jersey.Stewart, Zan, "The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats", The Star-Ledger, September 28, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of September 27, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Slide Hampton -- A resident of East Orange, Hampton is one of the premier trombonists and arrangers in modern jazz." He died on November 18, 2021, at the age of 89.
In 2005 Hampton was honored at the jazz festival in Indianapolis. There the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation inducted him into their Hall of Fame. Indianapolis Jazz Foundation honors Slide Hampton
In 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts honored Slide Hampton with its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award.
| 1959 | Slide Hampton and His Horn of Plenty | Strand | |
| 1960 | Sister Salvation | Atlantic | |
| 1960 | Somethin' Sanctified | Atlantic | |
| 1961 | Two Sides of Slide Hampton | Charlie Parker | |
| 1962 | Jazz with a Twist | Atlantic | |
| 1962 | Drum Suite | Epic | |
| 1962 | Explosion! The Sound of Slide Hampton | Atlantic | |
| 1962 | Exodus | Philips Records | |
| 1965 | Harold Betters Meets Slide Hampton | Gateway | |
| 1968 | Mellow-dy | LRC | Released in 1992 |
| 1968 | Slide Hampton Big Band | Barclay Records | |
| 1968 | Back to Jazz | EMI Records | |
| 1969 | The Fabulous Slide Hampton Quartet | Pathé | |
| 1969 | A Day in Copenhagen | MPS Records | With Dexter Gordon |
| 1970 | Umeå Big Band & Slide Hampton in Montreux | Gazell Records | With Umeå Big Band |
| 1971 | Trombone Workshop | MPS | With Albert Mangelsdorff, Åke Persson & Jiggs Whigham |
| 1972 | Life Music | Carosello | |
| 1972 | Jazz a Confronto 18 | Horo Records | With Dusko Goykovich |
| 1972 | Euro Jazz | Supraphon | With Václav Zahradník |
| 1974 | Give Me a Double | MPS | With Joe Haider |
| 1979 | World of Trombones | West 54 | |
| 1984 | Art Farmer & Slide Hampton in Concert | Enja Records | With Art Farmer |
| 1984 | Cees Slinger-Slide Hampton Quintet in Concert | Vara Jazz | With Cees Slinger |
| 1985 | Roots | Criss Cross | With Clifford Jordan |
| 1993 | Dedicated to Diz | Telarc | |
| 1997 | Jazz Matinee | Hänssler Classic | With SWR Big Band |
| 1998 | Inclusion | Twin | |
| 2002 | Slide Plays Jobim | Alleycat Productions | |
| 2002 | Spirit of the Horn | MCG Jazz | |
| 2002 | Americans Swinging in Paris | EMI | |
| 2005 | Mellow-Dy | LRC Ltd. | |
| 2006 | The Cloister Suite | Gryphon | |
| 2008 | The Whit Williams "Now's The Time" Big Band | MAMA | |
| 2011 | Two Sides of Slide Hampton | Hallmark | |
| 2011 | Essential Jazz Masters | Stardust | |
| 2012 | Happy Point | Jazz Room | |
| 2012 | Explosion! | Hallmark | |
| 2013 | Charlie Parker Records: The Complete Collection, Vol. 5 | Universal Remasterings | |
| 2014 | Drum Suite Parts I, II, II, IV & V (Bonus Track Version) | The Jazz Corner | |
| 2016 | Complete Studio Recordings by the Slide Hampton Octet (Bonus Track Version) | Jazz Lovers | |
| 2016 | Sister Salvation + Explosion! (Bonus Track Version) | Treasury Jazz | |
With Oliver Nelson
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