Billboard : 03/06/1965
Jazz Spotlight

Hamp at his best … surrounded by outstanding sidemen: Clark Terry (trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor sax), Hank Jones (piano), Milt Hinton: (bass), Osie Johnson (drums). Hamp’s vibraphone is as vibrant as ever and, as a bonus, he sings on three cuts. Solid musicianship and the lighthearted touch that experienced veterans can bring to jazz are both evident.

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Cashbox : 03/13/1965
Jazz Best Bet

Lionel Hampton, whose swinging style goes back more than thirty years, has delved into the past for a batch of oldies, mixed in a few newies and served up a platter of good listening. The vibester teams up with Clark Terry on the horn, Ben Webster on tenor sax, Hank Jones on the ivories, Milt Hinton plucking the bass and Osie Johnson on the skins for oldies like Ring Dem Bells and Sweethearts on Parade and more recent tunes such as Taste of Honey.

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Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, NJ)
Don Lass : 05/08/1965

Though he has always either fronted a big band or been featured in one, Hampton’s best work comes from dates with small all-star groups. In the late 1930s when the vibraphonist was with Benny Goodman he recorded a series of classic tracks with the best musicians of the era. This album is reminiscent of those recordings and Hampton and his sidemen play with the same spirit and skill. With “Hamp” are Clark Terry, trumpet, Ben Webster, tenor saxophone, Hank Jones, piano, Milt Hinton, bass, and Osie Johnson, drums – all veteran jazzmen and masterful improvisers. Five of the nine selections here recall the so-called Swing Era but these versions are updated and extended. Pick a Rib, first recorded in 1939 with the Goodman quartet and trumpeter Harry James, has an inspired solo by Hampton propelled by the tight rhythm section. Sweethearts on Parade is a hard-driving opus with Terry’s humorous horn and a lusty statement by Webster featured. Terry, Webster, and Hampton get equal space on Manny Albam’s Trick or Treat, Vibraphone Blues (a Goodman quartet classic), and Ring Dem Bells (the strongest track) while Jones adds sparkling piano interludes. Throughout, the most rewarding work comes from the leader, a superb improviser with a full, rich vibraphone sound unequalled in jazz. His dynamic personality shows through in his vocals on Cutes, Swingle Jingle, (“Jingle Bells“), Sweethearts, Bells, and Blues.

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Atlantic City Press (Atlantic City, NJ)
Jack Ellis : 03/28/1965

This week’s jazz bag also has its old wine department in the persons of the redoubtable Benny Goodman and the ever exciting and multi-talented Lionel Hampton, of whom not enough has been heard of late.

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Lionel Hampton’s offering on Impulse, You Better Know It,” is just that. The whole package seems to jump up and say “if this isn’t the best vibist and two-fingered pianist of them all, he’ll have to do until you prove otherwise.”

Hamp has surrounded himself with a fine array of all-stars – Clark Terry on trumpet, the ever reliable and pattern setting Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, Hank Jones on piano, Milt Hinton on bass and Osie Johnson on drums – and makes the absolute best of all of them. He opens with his familiar Ring Dem Bells, segues into such reliables as Sweethearts on Parade, Pick a Rib (which he wrote with Benny Goodman in honor of a successful-failure-type rib joint once owned by Harry Goodman, Benny’s brother) and Swingle Jingle, on which he plays his wild two-fingered piano. It’s great Hamp and great fun.

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Audio : May, 1965
Bertram Stanleigh : May, 1965

One of the most stimulating jazz labels is Impulse – the cool division of ABC Paramount. Under the aegis of Bob Thiele, a veteran record executive and jazz enthusiast, Impulse has contributed a number of very important albums featuring musicians from mainstream to way out. And their performances have usually been on that consistently high level that is only achieved under ideal studio conditions, when a group of first rate professionals who respect one another can play for each other in an atmosphere of serious music making without the distractions and influences of a noisy concert or night club audience.

Together with this sympathetic atmosphere, Impulse exercises the kind of care in recording and pressing that results in the utmost fidelity to the live performance in the finished product. Most of their sessions are engineered by Rudy van Gelder, a man whom I know only from his discs and his reputation as a cutter of superior lacquers, but a man whom I admire more with each Impulse waxing I hear. At a time when most engineers have ceased to care about the quality of their mono tapings, Van Gelder continues to make progress in this area, and I find myself in the rather surprising position of having to admit that I find greater clarity and separation in most of his mono recordings then I can hear in the stereo sound of some of the mass production labels.

For its latest release, Impulse has inundated record enthusiasts with an even dozen of discs. Most of them are up to the very highest standard that the artists involved have achieved to date, and in one very important instance – the new Coltrane album – one of the very greatest achievements of the jazz recording industry.

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The perennially welcome Mr. Hampton turns up with a quintet of grand old veterans: Clark Terry, trumpet, Ben Webster, tenor, Hank Jones, piano, Milt Hinton, bass, and Osie Johnson, drums. Together they romp through a delightful collection that includes such splendid old numbers as Ellington’s Ring Dem Bells, Sweethearts On Parade and the Goodman-Hampton Pick-A-Rib. Bobby Scott’s Taste of Honey, a trio of Hampton tunes: Vibraphone Blues, Tempo’s Birthday, and Swingle Jingle, Manny Albam’s Trick or Treat and Cute by Neal Hefti and Stanley Styne fill out the set. The results are a set of easy, relaxed music delivered with mellow good spirits. It isn’t very modern, but it’s lots of fun.

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Berkeley Gazette (Berkeley, CA)
Nick Peters : 05/28/1965

This is a fine, happy album by some of the greatest names in the history of jazz. A very relaxed recording session produced some great sounds, but that isn’t surprising when one looks at the all-star cast of Hamp on vibes, Clark Terry on trumpet, Ben Webster on tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Milt Hinton on bass and Osie Johnson on drums.

That nostalgic swing sound of the late Thirties is heard on Pick A Rib, a number written by Hamp and Benny Goodman in 1938. A real toe tapper with a great solo by Webster, it’s our favorite number from the album.

Another goody is Trick or Treat, starting with Jones’ bluesy piano and featuring some brilliant exchanges between Webster and Terry. The pair are also great together on the opening Ring Dem Bells, a refreshing piece that sets the mood for the entire album.

Hamp’s vibes playing is excellent on his own Vibraphone Blues and Tempo’s Birthday. He also vocalizes on Ring Dem Bells, Vibraphone Blues and Cute, and plays piano on a short improvisional piece called Swingle Jingle, beginning with Hamp fooling around with a jazzed-up version of Jingle Bells and the group joining him for a driving finish.

The modern hit, Taste of Honey, closes the session and is the only slow number in the album. It features some fine vibes work by the leader and Webster’s brilliant ballad style on tenor.

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HiFi / Stereo Review
Nat Hentoff : July, 1965
Recording of Special Merit

Performance: Full-bodied and uncomplicated
Recording: Excellent
Stereo Quality: Superb

Some of the most effortless and relaxed jazz recordings of the swing era were the RCA Victor small-combo pickup dates headed by Lionel Hampton. It was Impulse’s happy idea to set up a contemporary version of those sessions, and the results are as high-spirited as the best of the earlier Hampton romps. The arrangements are spare, providing the maximum of space for solo playing. The rhythm section (Hank Jones, Milt Hinton. and Osie Johnson) has been a unit at New York recording dates for years, and their appreciation of one another’s abilities is evident in their zestful beat. Rhythmically, Hampton is as limber as always, and his artless vocals are engaging. Trumpeter Clark Terry plays with his customary wit and incisiveness. But the star of the record is Ben Webster, who has become the very model of a mainstream jazz improviser. His lines are clear and logical, and no one on Jazz tenor today has a tone as full and vibrant as his.

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Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, PA)
Phyl Garland : 06/19/1965

Mention vibes and these names are bound to pop up in the conversation.

First of all, any discussion of the subject would be impossible without reference to Lionel Hampton, the ebullient spirit whose percussive approach to the instrument became a trademark of the swing era when he first reached stardom with Benny Goodman’s big band, going on to front his own numerous full-sized groups.

No one dared to share the spotlight with Hamp until the coming of Milt Jackson, who exemplified the shimmering, cool school of vibraphone artistry, rising along with Gillespie and Parker of the bopish late ‘forties. He achieved his full stature in the early ‘fifties when he formed a historically significant partnership with John Lewis, who had been his cohort in the Gillespie band.

The third man in this formidable triumvirate might well be the vibraphonist whom Jackson replaced during his brief outing with a Woody Herman herd, namely, Terry Gibbs, who lies half-way between these other towering figures in terms of style. A balanced composite of the two dominate approaches, Gibbs is a well-tempered exponent of what might be called progressive swing.

Moving on to specifics, Hamp can be dug at his latest on You Better Know It Lionel Hampton (Impulse A-78) **** ½.

If you are looking for something new, don’t expect it on this set, but do look forward to a stimulating distillation of the swing style most commonly identified with Hampton. He is an unbridled and joyful creature of the earth who romps through old tunes like Ring Dem Bells, Sweethearts On Parade, his own Vibraphone Blues, which was one of the first recordings he made with the Benny Goodman Quartet back in 1936. He is equally effective on the melodic modern ballad Taste of Honey.

This set shows, most admirably, the untarnishable quality of Hamp’s musicianship.

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Riverside Independent Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Ralph J. Gleason : 03/07/1965
Album of the Week

This is a fine album by Hampton, cut in New York this past fall, with a sexiet which includes Clark Terry, trumpet; Ben Webster, tenor; Hank Jones. piano; Milt Hinton, bass and Osie Johnson, drums. Hamptor plays vibes, sings and tears up the piano on one tune. The other musicians get solos periodically and both Clark Terry and Ben Webster contribute outstanding solo efforts. The whole album is done in a fine, warm spirit which indicates that under the right circumstances men like these can make memorable jazz no matter how the years have treated them. The blues, the originals (like Pick-a-Rib and Cute) and the ballad “Taste of Honey” show Hampton in a diversified display. It’s his best new LP in a long, long time and a pure delight to hear. In his style he is and always has been without peer. Impulse’s recording director Bob Thiel deserves congratulations for making this LP. It’s about time somebody did it.

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Saturday Review
Stanley Dance : 04/10/1965

Under his own name, Lionel Hampton was responsible for some of the most popular small-band records ever made, and he played a major part in many of Benny Goodman’s. His return to such contexts was overdue and it is good to hear him with musicians like those chosen for this album. His enthusiasm and strong rhythmic feeling make him an important catalyst in these performances, which are everywhere infused with his vitality, whether he is playing vibes or piano. singing or urging on his companions. Several old favorites are recreated, such as Ring Dem Bells, Sweethearts on Parade, Vibraphone Blues, and Pick a Rib. They are wholly successful in their own right, without nostalgic references

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St. Catherines Standard (St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada)
George Albanese : 08/28/1965
Old Charm Evident In Lionel’s Latest

Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, one of the all-time great jazzmen, recaptures the wit and airy spontaneity that marked all his small combo recordings of the swing era on a recent Impulse album, You Better Know It!

The arrangements are simplified to the core, leaving plenty of openings for the soloists to improvise.

Jazz buffs will know what to expect when they consider the roster of artists in on this recording date. Trumpeter Clark Terry and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, plus a rhythm section composed of pianist Hank Jones, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Osie Johnson.

Ring Dem Bells, Duke Ellington’s happy rhythm tune, sets the mood and pace as the opening track. It rolls along with a pulsing swing, with the rhythm section providing an infectious beat.

Tenor man Webster follows Hank Jones’ subtle piano and in turn gives way to Terry’s muted trumpet, which drives powerfully, but with restraint. Leader man Hampton is in stellar form.

Vibraphone Blues, an original by Lionel which he recorded with former boss Benny Goodman, offers a throaty vocal by Hamp, nice easy tenor by Webster and more tasty Terry trumpet.

Pick-A-Rib, another catchy riff arrangement from the BG period, offers more fine Webster tenor and Terry horn.

Trick or Treat, a composition by Manny Albam, one of the longer tracks, allows the principals the chance to soar for a six-minute flight. Terry’s growl trumpet here is reminiscent of Cootie Williams, a former cohort of his in Ellington’s band.

For me, the most appealing track on the disc is Sweethearts On Parade. This recalls that brightly bouncing groove that was generated on the original version Lionel recorded for Victor.

Ben Webster is the star soloist on this track, but Hamp presses in hard. Other recommended tracks are: Swingle Jingle, Tempo’s Birthday and A Taste of Honey. This is warmly recommended.

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Down Beat : 05/06/1965
Don DeMichael : 4.5 stars

This is easily the best record Hampton has made since his collaboration with Art Tatum, Harry Edison, and Buddy Rich about a dozen years ago. It brings to mind those classic studio sessions headed by the vibraharpist at the peak of the swing era—not only in terms of repertoire but also in the rapport between the musicians and in the mellow, relaxed atmosphere that prevails.

Five of the selections are re-creations—from Hampton’s days with the Benny Goodman Quartet (Blues, Rib), his own studio dates (Bells, Sweethearts), and his big band of the mid-’40s (Tempo’s). All are much more successful than is usual for such attempts.

Bells, done with a soft, insinuating swing, gets the album off to a delightful start. There is a Hampton vocal, in his unpretentious, rhythmic manner, including some pleasant scatting, and good solo spots for Webster, Terry, and the leader.

Blues opens with expert interplay between Jones and Hampton, who follows with a brilliant improvisation and then sings the old lyrics and introduces his cohorts. Webster responds to Hampton’s reiterated “Take it, big Ben” with two powerful and moving choruses.

Tempo’s is a nice, boppishly melodic line, with Hamp and Ben again to the fore, plus some informed riffing.

The first Hampton version of Sweethearts, featuring tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, was a masterpiece. The main kicks on this one are the driving beat and Terry’s humorous and biting background commentary.

Rib, a typical swing-era blues riff, has scintillating work by Hampton, and fine support from the rhythm team.

The rest of the program includes an attractive rhythm ballad by Neal Hefti, Cute, with a Hampton vocal and a silken spot for Webster; a Manny Albam original in proper spirit, Trick, which gives all hands a welcome chance to stretch out a bit; and two brief tracks, Swingle, a take-off on Jingle Bells spotlighting Hampton’s two-finger (and chorded) piano diversions, and Honey, with Hampton and Webster in a romantic mood.

Hampton’s playing on this album will come as a revelation to those jazz listeners who have lost, or never have acquired, a proper perspective of the art, those who are inclined to think that the work of musicians of Hampton’s generation is purely of historical interest. It may even come as a surprise to those who may have forgot how great a player this man really can be.

No other vibraharpist has ever approximated Hampton’s sound. It is big and full, with a vibrato characteristic of the classic jazz style—but he never allows that vibrato to become too emphatic or syrupy. His ability to swing is axiomatic-Hampton is among the inventors of that flowing rhythmic feeling we call by that name. His technique is masterly. (For a sample, hear his startling triplet entrance for his solo on Trick; the ease and timing of those notes is nothing short of magnificent.) Best of all, he is a true improviser, a creator of fresh and flowing new melodies and patterns. And does he know his changes!

Hampton always has been a catalyst; the kind of musician who inspires his fellow players. Here, all his companions give their best. Webster ranges from growling ferocity to velvet smoothness; Terry has himself a ball; Jones always seems to know the right things to play behind Hampton (not every pianist can adapt himself to accompanying a vibraharpist properly), and his solo work (of which there is too little) has a master’s touch. Hinton, who like Webster was present on many a Hampton date in the ’30s, is solid as a rock (they don’t come much better); and Johnson swings incisively, only occasionally indulging himself in his overfondness for off-beat accents. This group is a unit in the true sense of the word.

This is the kind of record one returns to with increasing pleasure; the kind that won’t gather dust on the shelf. Only one complaint: why such a preponderance of short tracks? There is a happy medium between the tedium of 10 or more minutes, and the teasing of less than four. And a total playing time of 34 minutes, 25 seconds is not generous. But for Hampton, all the stars in the book and then some!

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Liner Notes by George Hoefer

It has been well over 30 years since the Hamp became a name star with the Benny Goodman swing band. Since that time his basic need to play and entertain has never deserted him and it never will. The main characteristics of Hamp’s music through the years have always included a spontaneity and an exhilaration that make for a contagious vitality. This intrinsic enthusiasm transmits itself to his coplayers, as well as to his audiences.

It is true that the jazz world is made up of a tight in-group. As a bandleader, and as a playing musician, Hampton has done a great deal over the years to spread the gospel of American jazz around the world and to widen the opportunities for those whose inherent talents put them in an esoteric category.

Hamp has not only been a playing ambasador for jazz, his many bands have all served as one of the finest training media available to the young hopefuls with something to say musically. Even the experienced jazz student would be surprised at the length of a list of ex-Hampton sidemen who have made names for themselves in the modern jazz scene.

With this illustrious background of accomplishment, it is heart-warming to share with Hamp a bit of reminiscing as he assembles an all-star sextet and replays some of the numbers he did with the Goodman Quartet and his own small groups during the late ’30s.

As good as musicians may be — and those on this set are of the best – Lionel seems to have the power to stimulate them. The very fact of their playing with Hamp makes them give their best.

It should be pointed out that the atmosphere prevalent on this recording date was designed to give the participants a relaxed after-hours jam session feeling. That is the way Hamp really enjoys playing. The accent is on rhythmic patterns, unrestrained and uninhibited, with plenty of room for riding the “riffs.”

The listener can’t help but fall in with the mood of the infectious Ellington tune of 1930 – Ring Dem Bells. The vibes and two horns set a joyful feeling in the opening phrases. Lionel’s vocal, effectively accompanied by Hank Jones’ superb piano, evolves into a catchy scat chorus where if the listener pays close attention he can hear pianist Jones joining-in vocally to make a short duet-in-scat. Then Hamp announces Big Ben (Webster), who moves in with an eloquent improvised passage. Trumpeter Terry offers an inventive muted-horn solo and Hamp improvises some new lines to Duke’s melody before the ensemble takes the number out. Hamp last recorded Bells in 1938 with an orchestra under his own name featuring growl trumpeter Cootie Williams, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, and baritone saxophonist Edgar Sampson, Jess Stacy was on piano.

An original blues of Lionel’s, Vibraphone Blues, was one of the first recordings he made with the Benny Goodman Quartet in August of 1936. It was cut at a date in Hollywood before the vibraphonist had officially joined the Goodman organization. A month later, after Goodman had returned to New York, he sent Hamp a wire asking him to come East and become a regular member in a new quartet with Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and himself. Here, on an updated version, Lionel again vocally introduces his co-players. Before Lionel takes off on his gutty blues vocal he plays some intricate vibraphone that sets an inspiring blues atmosphere for Terry’s trumpet and Webster’s insinuating tenor solo. The take-out with the two horns in a series of riffs is effective background for Hampton.

For a change of pace the group next does a number, Tempo’s Birthday, written by Lionel and his ex-trumpet man Joe Morris. It was originally composed for Hampton’s big band of 1946 — a crew that included tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb and trumpeter Joe Wilder. Terry and Hamp play the beboppish figures so prevalent during the mid-forties, while Ben performs a fine relaxed bit not at all in the vein of the frantic tenoring usually identified with a Hampton band rendition. When Terry and Webster play together in ensemble passages they create an organ sound that gives the impression of more than the two instruments involved.

Lionel’s nostalgic mood goes back to 1939 on Sweethearts on Parade. Back then he had two great jazz musicians, both of them now gone, as his co-players – tenor saxophonist Leon (Chu) Berry and pianist Clyde Hart. The bass man, Milt Hinton, was on the original date and rejoins Hamp to produce this lively updated version. It is a bright and happy revival with the vibist again offering one of his inimitable vocals while Terry’s trumpet echoes his vocal phrases in the background. The last half of the track builds continuously to the final drum roll.

The second half of Lionel’s joyful romp gets off to an exhilarating start as Hamp recalls a barbecue joint on 52nd Street where all the name jazz musicians of 1938 hung out in the early hours of the morning. The place, the Pick-A-Rib, was owned and managed by Benny Goodman’s brother, Harry, a onetime bass player. The main features of the spot were the ribs and the juke box where many of the patrons could listen to their own recorded works. B.G and Hamp worked out a riff number and named it after the hangout. It was recorded in two parts by a Goodman Quintet made up of Hampton, B.G., Teddy Wilson, bassist John Kirby, and drummer Buddy Schutz. This current reading of the potpourri of riffs adds the two horns in place of the one clarinet as originally performed over 20 years back.

Arranger-composer Manny Albam’s Trick or Treat gives the group a chance to spread out for a six-minute foray. As Lionel spiritedly plays his vibes he utters soft growls of satisfaction, especially when Webster lightly squeezes out riffs underneath the vibraphone. Terry’s solo soars as he plays in the high register and Ben’s tenor literally sings. The ensemble starts off by stating the melodic line to Cute, a descriptive song written by arranger-trumpeter Neal Hefti, who in 1951 furnished quite a few arrangements for Hampton’s big band. Lionel sings the lyrics with Terry’s trumpet answering his phrases. Big Ben impatiently takes over from the vocal and blows an assertive big-toned solo.

Hampton chose pianist Bobby Scott’s title song to the English stage drama of 1960, A Taste of Honey (for which Scott wrote and played the score on the stage set), as a slow ballad to be included in the set for a change of pace. Hampton plays some very pretty vibes on this one! Webster is in his best ballad form and presents his usual soulful rendition.

This recording is most certainly not an attempt to reinstate the jazz glories of the past. It is Hampton applying his basic technique, thorough knowledge of chords, and vivid imagination to music he once knew to find out what happens after 20 years of jazz progress.

Furthermore, he just plain enjoys it! And you better know it!!!