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Tribute Event to Honor Hometown Jazz Great, Lionel Hampton

LOUISVILLE, KY – Lincoln Foundation in partnership with Dick Sisto, Ken Clay, Owsley Brown III, Louisville Public Media, Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, The Kentucky Center, Mike Balter Mallets and Vandoren Saxophone Reeds proudly announces the First, Annual Lionel Hampton Tribute Concert Showcase. The event will take place in the Bomhard Theater of the Kentucky Center on Saturday Oct. 7.

Dick Sisto, on vibraphone, is the artistic and music director who will lead a group of featured jazz artists who will pay tribute to jazz greats past and present.  They include Barry Ries, trumpet (Lionel Hampton); Bobby Broom, guitar (Sonny Rollins); Bobby Floyd, keyboards (Count Basie); Jim Anderson, bass (Benny Golson); Art Gore, drums (George Benson) and special guest Harry Skoler, clarinet (Berklee College of Music).

Louisville native Lionel Hampton was born on April 20, 1908. He popularized the vibraphone and played with the Benny Goodman Quartet before becoming a successful bandleader. Hampton received honors from Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He performed well into his 90s before passing away in 2002.

Mayor Greg Fischer and the city of Louisville have embraced this event and hope to honor this hometown jazz great and innovator with an official Lionel Hampton dedication day. The event will also feature a showcase of young percussion students on the vibraphone and drums.  A music scholarship will be considered for one of the participating youth.

Schedule and ticket information for the Lionel Hampton Tribute Concert Showcase will be announced later this summer. Proceeds from the event will benefit Lincoln Foundation’s signature Whitney M. YOUNG Scholars Program®.

Lincoln Foundation has empowered disadvantaged youth to overcome adversity through education since its inception by Berea College over 100 years ago. The mission of the organization is to provide educational enrichment programs that develop and support youth in overcoming barriers to achievement. Lincoln Foundation outcomes demonstrate that students can break the cycle of poverty in their families through higher education. Students are holistically developed in an educational culture that stresses academic achievement and graduation from college.  Lincoln Foundation annually serves approximately 600 students from two years of age through college with its year-round, nontraditional educational enrichment programs.