Lionel Hampton feat. Milt Buckner, Prague 1977

Four years ago I found in Otto Flückiger’s archive a 20 minute clip of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra playing Air Mail Special in Prague 1977 with Milt Buckner featured on the organ. It soon turned out that sound and  picture lost their synchronicity during the upload to youtube. At that time I did not see what I had done wrong, so I decided to not go through the digitizing process again and leave it the way it is.

But now yesterday I found out that even more footage exists from this concert. So I digitized all 43 minutes that are there (it still ends rather abrupt, so there probably is even more footage extant). Besides Hampton and big-mustached Milt Buckner you get to see and hear Cat Anderson on trumpet, Pauel Moen and the legendary Eddie Chamblee on saxophones, guitarist Billy Mackel and drummer Frankie Dunlop.

Enjoy!

Milt Buckner Acetate: Flying Home

Here is another track from the mysterious set of KAKE acetates featuring a 1953 Lionel Hampton concert as well as some solo piano tracks by Milt Buckner. Here you get Milt playing Lionel Hampton’s classic “Flyin’ Home” in a wonderfully agitated solo piano version. If anyone does know anything set about these mysterious acetates, do not hesitate and tell me!

Enjoy!

Milt Buckner: Too hot?

I recently acquired some photographs that allow me to tell a little story.

On Wednesday June 27, 1962 Milt Buckner brought his organ into Chicago’s Eden Roc Night Club.

(Click to enlarge) Press photo taken on July 8, 1962.
Photo: Anderson/Chicago Daily News

Ruth remembers Milt Buckner

Some days ago I received a very nice email from Ruth Gilson who has – as she says – “been an avid Milt Buckner for years”. Ruth who is now 80 years of age wanted to know if I would like to read about her personal interactions with Milt Buckner when he was booked into her local Holiday Inn Supper Club for a month every year. And of course I wanted to read that! 

Lionel Hampton at Strand Theatre 1948

When I was down at the archives last week looking for documents in relation to Don Redman’s 1946 tour, I accidentally found a batch of gorgeous photos of Lionel Hampton’s band in 1948 and 1949 at New York’s Strand Theatre as well as from  the Howard Theatre Washington 1948.

(click to enlarge)

The photograph above was taken at the Strand Theatre in N.Y.C, between January 23 and February 1948. Unfortunately the photographer is not known (to me at least). On the edge of the photo Otto noted down the names of the musicians to be seen. I photoshopped the edge just enough to make his handwriting (very pale pencil) readable again. Too make identification easier, I have cut up the photo into several parts below.

Milt Buckner News!

I have added some information to all three parts of my Milt Buckner discography. There are some new photos, some old photos in better copies than before, as well as information about some previously known and some previously unknown recordings from broadcasts as well as from records or notes in Milt Buckner’s diaries. For example, there is this entry:

which led to this LP (details are in the discography):

I have also added an unreleased 1947 session for Don Gabor’s Continental Records, featuring a Lionel Hampton small group with Arnett Cobb and others, but without Hampton.

Does anyone have an idea who might have the masters for these Continental tracks– if any do still exist?

I have also made discographical – and photographical – additions to part 2 and part 3. So it’s worth having a look there. I have noted the last changes on top of each part.

Milt Buckner in Switzerland 1967

I know some of you are here because you are interested in Milt Buckner. Well, this really fantastic footage is not from the Otto Flückiger archives, it comes from Youtube user bioskopvozdovac. It shows Buckner with some swiss guys playing for the Swiss television journal “Carrefour in” 1967. It is just so great to see Buckner in high quality that I had to post it here:

 

Enjoy!

Milt Buckner in Mantes-la-Jolie 1976

I found some more clips with Milt Buckner, and I will be adding one to my youtube account every other month or so. So here ‘s Milt Buckner and his Lionel Hampton Alumni at the Cinema Normandie in Mantes-la-Jolie (France) on May 2, 1976.

Wallace Davenport (tp), Buster Cooper (tb), Earl Warren (as), Eddie Chamblee (ts), Arnett Cobb (ts), Milt Buckner (p, org, vib, voc), André Persiany (p), Roland Lobligeois (b), Panama Francis (dr).

Enjoy!

Milt Buckner Acetate: “Hamp’ s Boogie”

I made a little movie to the music of Milt Buckner playing “Hamp’s Boogie” at an unknown date. The music comes from a mysterious bunch of acetates from the Otto Flückiger collection.