Garnished with a fistful of alternate takes, the 2007 release of Mosaic's 107-track
Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937-1941 is a welcome and long overdue CD realization of The Complete Lionel Hampton 1937-1941, a six-LP box set released during the 1970s by the Bluebird label. Only
Teddy Wilson came close to achieving what
Hamp did in the late 1930s and early '40s, by bringing together the greatest soloists on the scene for a staggeringly productive and inspired series of recordings that essentially defined the state of jazz during the years immediately preceding the Second World War. Nearly every musician heard on this collection may be traced to the most important and influential bands on the scene during the '30s, including groups operating under the leadership of
Duke Ellington,
Luis Russell,
Louis Armstrong,
Fletcher Henderson,
Benny Goodman,
Count Basie,
Cab Calloway,
Earl Hines,
Fats Waller,
John Kirby, and
Nat King Cole (these last two appear with
Hampton as sidemen). Even a detailed list of the master musicians gathered together by
Lionel Hampton during this five year period would scarcely do justice to the depth and scope of the music represented here. This set defines swing, and jazz itself, as few other compilations ever have, can or will. Utterly essential listening, second to none. The fact that this is a limited edition rather than required listening in every public school in North America is bittersweet food for thought. ~ arwulf arwulf