Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival
Encyclopedia
The Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival, the largest west of the Mississippi, that takes place on the campus of the University of Idaho
in Moscow
, Idaho
in the month of February. Its current Artistic Director is John Clayton
.
In 2007, the festival was awarded the National Medal of Arts
, the nation’s most prestigious arts award.
in Moscow
, dating from 1967. Each year in February, thousands of college, high school, junior high, and elementary school students travel from all over North America
to the campus on the Palouse
in north
Idaho
to meet great jazz performers, partake in vocal and instrumental adjudicated performances, and attend concerts and workshops.
The first UI Jazz Festival took place in 1967; it was a single-day event consisting of fifteen student groups and one jazz artist in a sole evening concert. The festival now runs four days and features seven concerts spread about the campus. Some of the jazz greats who have performed at the festival include Ella Fitzgerald
, Gerry Mulligan
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Elvin Jones
, Freddie Hubbard
, Dianne Reeves
, Stan Getz
, Carmen McRae
, Joey DeFrancesco
, Benny Green
, Hank Jones
, Roy Hargrove
, Diana Krall
, Wynton Marsalis
and Sarah Vaughan
and of course the eponymous Lionel Hampton
and his New York Big Band, who first played at the festival in 1984. The festival was renamed for Hampton in 1985, and the UI's school of music was renamed for him in 1987.
Adjudicated performances are held at more than eighteen sites on the UI campus and in the town of Moscow. The outstanding ensembles, determined by the adjudicators, perform at the afternoon concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Outstanding vocal and instrumental soloists take the stage with the professionals at the evening concerts.
said the festival was the only one of its kind in the world where jazz greats had the chance to sit down with students and directly share their experience and knowledge.
in Sitka, Alaska
.
University of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
in Moscow
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
in the month of February. Its current Artistic Director is John Clayton
John Clayton (bassist)
John Travis Clayton Jr. is an American jazz and classical double bassist.-Music:John Travis Clayton Jr. began seriously undertaking the study of double bass at age 16, studying with bass legend Ray Brown...
.
In 2007, the festival was awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
, the nation’s most prestigious arts award.
About the festival
The Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival is a modern tradition at the University of IdahoUniversity of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
in Moscow
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state...
, dating from 1967. Each year in February, thousands of college, high school, junior high, and elementary school students travel from all over North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to the campus on the Palouse
Palouse
The Palouse is a region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of southeastern Washington, north central Idaho and, in some definitions, extending south into northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primarily producing wheat and legumes...
in north
North Central Idaho
North Central Idaho is an area which spans the central part of the state of Idaho and borders Oregon, Montana, and Washington. It is the southern half of the Idaho Panhandle region and is rich in agriculture and natural resources. Lewis and Clark travelled throughout this area on their journey to...
Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
to meet great jazz performers, partake in vocal and instrumental adjudicated performances, and attend concerts and workshops.
The first UI Jazz Festival took place in 1967; it was a single-day event consisting of fifteen student groups and one jazz artist in a sole evening concert. The festival now runs four days and features seven concerts spread about the campus. Some of the jazz greats who have performed at the festival include Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
, Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist, trumpeter, and vocalist. Down Beat's Critics and Readers Poll selected him as the top jazz organist every year since 2003.DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania...
, Benny Green
Benny Green (pianist)
Benny Green is a hard bop jazz pianist who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell in style and counts him as an influence. As a boy he grew up in Berkeley, California and studied classical piano from the age of seven...
, Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
, Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...
, Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
and Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
and of course the eponymous Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and his New York Big Band, who first played at the festival in 1984. The festival was renamed for Hampton in 1985, and the UI's school of music was renamed for him in 1987.
Adjudicated performances
The adjudicated performances span four days and typically involve approximately 14,000 students from more than 300 schools, in addition to numbers of music teachers, parents, supporters, and friends. Elementary, middle and junior high school vocal and instrumental groups compete Wednesday, and Thursday is devoted to college day. High school vocal groups compete Friday and high school jazz bands are featured Saturday.Adjudicated performances are held at more than eighteen sites on the UI campus and in the town of Moscow. The outstanding ensembles, determined by the adjudicators, perform at the afternoon concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Outstanding vocal and instrumental soloists take the stage with the professionals at the evening concerts.
Workshops
Workshops by guest artists are a major emphasis of the jazz festival. The workshops provide an opportunity for jazz masters and students to meet in casual yet structured settings. Artists have the freedom to discuss, perform, demonstrate techniques, and answer questions. Nearly every guest artist presents at least one clinic during the festival. After his clinic at the 1997 festival, guitarist Herb EllisHerb Ellis
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a...
said the festival was the only one of its kind in the world where jazz greats had the chance to sit down with students and directly share their experience and knowledge.
Legacy
The festival, besides establishing itself as one of the premier festivals of its kind in the world, also spawned similar protege festivals such as the Sitka Jazz FestivalSitka Jazz Festival
Sitka Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in the community of Sitka, Alaska for three days every February. It features educational clinics for participating students, evening concerts featuring professional jazz artists, and the All-Alaska Jazz Band—an audition-entrance honor ensemble for...
in Sitka, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.