Slide Hampton's Solo from Dizzy Gillespie's 70th Birthday

[jmclarke1]

Doesn't sound very harmonic to me :(

[pablito162]

@shoegazer JJ had nothing on Slide Hampton? This is not what Slide Hampton would tell you if you spoke with him. I had the privilege of speaking to Slide and he told me very humbly that " I should study JJ and Curtis Fuller.. and not him, and that they taught him..." Unfortunately, There really are not any good examples of JJ Johnson's playing on Youtube. Most of JJ's great stuff was in the 50s. I was very impressed with the type of human being Slide really is and his level of humility.

[harrykaps13]

And that's just with his left hand hahaha. Truly amazing!!!

[Christianrules101]

woww....... i may play the sax, but he still raped me in speed, precision, and timing hahaha Great job Mr. Hampton, great job.

[BonesAboutIt]

Dave, thanks for your post. A great piece of jazz trombone history.

[caz4777]

I saw him at the Sydney Opera House back in 1986 as part of a band sponsored by Philip Morris. An uncommonly talented man.

[heymama1]

That is dedication. I'm still wanting to dedicate like that. Maybe I do in some ways. I hope it sounds like that.

[11bone11]

tabarnak

[gotojw]

wow amazing!  phenomenal talent!

[AlexSchmidt1992]

Dizzy looks happy as hell

[shoegazer666]

JJ's got nothing on this guy.

[31beason]

Who said trombone was a slow instrument?Who said inspiration wasn't important?Could I play that way myself with the right co-musians?Unfortunately I may never experience that except dreaming hearing this sequence almost every day.Posaunist

[forceknt31]

I like how he tears the horn from his face and walks away like, "That's right, bitch."

[wyarrell]

No disrespect to JJ and Kai, but that's the best trombone solo I've heard.

[earthboundPSI]

holydamn , ho-ly-damn

[SeybertGuy]

and Faddis follows Slide. LOL

[revolvingdoorholder]

I've got one word for this video: holydamn.

[ayom23]

there's a left handed trombone?? i need to get out more..

[revolvingdoorholder]

@ayom23 A left handed trombone is just a regular trombone with its slide screwed to the opposite side... Just readjust it.

[dmg2478]

@revolvingdoorholder Only true if there's no trigger a.k.a. F-attachment (so in this case yes). However, when there is a trigger the entire thing has to be revamped, and would usually be a custom order in that case.

[salsakid63]

Slide the real deal.

[cj614]

I wish i knew that you could play trombone lefty. It would have been much more comfortable...but 6 years of playing righty defeats the ability :/

[qtqt123321]

@cj614 kinda like fr horn i guess...

[sabsaka]

That was a real birthday party, with all those friends making music and tremendous noise!! :-D

[albinonis]

i like it..

[opti2007]

**bows** we're not worthy, we're not worthy!

[planiglukh]

holy shit

[kancellar3]

There is John Hendricks, Jon Faddis, Cecil Payne, James Moody, Dizzy...

Terrific!

[Timopartanen2]

Incredible

[valvetrom]

Phenominal !!

[KameronID]

Dizzy's so happy, man, I'd love to be up there with those guys!

[georgealexander]

slides' a left handed trombonist. But what solo!!!!

[ObjectManipulator55]

hell yes!

[Timopartanen2]

wow

[thel0ne0ne]

Does he doodle tongue?

[cccc109]

DAMN THAT'S FAST!!!

[klowjp]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAmazing!!

[kntrlr]

Slide recounts that when he was a kid, a neighbor who didn't play gave him an old trombone, the guy put it together backwards as neither of em knew better, and the rest is left-handed history.

[MurphysL4w]

Too bad about the sound quality...

[wenmew]

happy birthday slide!

[MrTrueBlend]

Hampton's got that drummer working over time. He's playing some mean figures right here.

[XxBESTEVARxXz]

Man..i need to go practice.

[TboneWertman]

@XxBESTEVARxXz i know thats right..lol

[reesetee1]

Dayum son!! Slide played his arse off!! And that was Jon Faddis...He will hold his own...That cat is bad arse too!!

[notime4bull]

This guy was the man that made me want to be a jazzer!

Met him when he talked to us at the Memphis Jazz festival last year!

[Laanen]

for sure his best solo ever !

[pablito162]

@Laanen

I like this solo, but I would not call it his best solo ever. Perhaps, it is the best solo that someone has posted for him on youtube. I have heard him play better solos than this both live and on recordings. I have already spoken to his manager about posting some of his other stuff. Slide is also an excellent arranger as well.  I believe youtube may have more examples of him leading a group that is playing one of his arrangements than him simply showing his improvisational skill.

[Owunthrizzel]

@pablito162 I agree, its an awesome solo, but I don't even think its his best solo on youtube. At this tempo, it limits the freedom of the player. Don't get me wrong, Slide wowed the crowd and stole the show, but look for the tune "and then she stopped" on youtube. I liked that solo better. He plays double time in that solo too, but he gets to a few more places in the solo because he doesn't have to obey a burner tempo.

[toygnisht]

He's this much of a genius all the time.

The sound,range,velocity,imaginati­on,advanced harmonics and soul--it's what the music is all about.

[dq9]

It looks like he is playing on a King 3B Liberty. Can anyone confirm this? Also does anyone know what kind of mouthpiece he is using?

[pablito162]

He is playing on a King 4B in this video

[dq9]

Do you know what mouthpiece he is using?

[pablito162]

@dq9

The last I heard he was using a large mouthpiece about the size of a Bach 3G

[boneofthewang]

I think this guy was the best left-handed trombonist to exist in history.

[HaydenK70]

its improv right?

[ObjectManipulator55]

@HaydenK70  yeah

[WhoFan2020]

That....was incredible. I'm a trombonist and I don't think I could ever play like that. Bravo, Mr. Hampton.

[Egbert1957]

and all this with a trombone mouthpiece,

also far drilling for bass trombone. und er pielt das alles mit einem

Bass-Posaunen Mundstück.

[zekeulrey]

Uh, "wow."

[germangnome]

why can he be a lefty? i was forced to be a righty

[latinp2006]

Oh, but with the trombone you can do the choice!. If somebody has you forced to be a righty, he didn't see this video!. I have some friends lefty trombonists

[germangnome]

well there are a lot of good reasons to be a righty, and virtually none for being a lefty i am glad that i made the change because i have a lot more options now

[latinp2006]

Maybe, that is right but I think we can exploit our natural capabilities faster than the forced ones. I am ambidextrous, but I was forced to be a righty for writing, the result: My writing is limited with both hands. However, for the soccer, I am good with both feet ;).

[BriBrizee]

really if i could write with both hands id be siked cuz i am right handed and have tried writing with my left and even though it is legible its horrible but why were you forced to write with you right?

[latinp2006]

This is a ridiculous and old idea: lefty is bad. Today, it is an unusual one.

[adamhawk3000]

I saw Slide at a jazz camp and he said the reason he plays this way is because he got the trombone as a Christmas present and his sister put the horn together for him this way - he has played this way ever since.

[flambogularity121]

he didn't choose. the instrument was given to him backwards, and he still plays left-handed.

[luchin2515]

genial

[McMajestic992]

the impresive thing is how improvising this is even possible...to be thinking about a song in your head and play it perfectly at such fast pace is increadible...i can improvise my own way but nothing as fast as this not even close

[Kkerr72]

Practice, knowing a lot of licks, and transcribing a lot of solos. Mostly practice.

[XMabinogi]

as good as this sounds, it is not quite improvised. i guess by technicality it is. but, he has prepared and thought of many licks before and this is just a Blues progression. not very difficult to the intermediate jazz trombone player let alone the professional jazz trombone player. that aside, playing something of that difficulty is ridiculous.

[Owunthrizzel]

do you know what improvisation is? Its not ideas falling from the sky. Its ideas that you have practiced, worked into your playing, and identify you from every other musician. The licks he plays are his own and are what makes him sould like slide hampton and not some other jazz musician.

[allhues]

@XMabinogi So basically you are saying that there has never been an improvised solo ever.....

[flambogularity121]

i got to hear him live! he is still so amazing. one of the best jazz trombonist alive.

[Caspar247]

loving the guy jazzing out behind him at 1:15 onwards. I agree with dale, fast notes on trombone is so hard. Slide makes it look way too easy.

[elephantparty19]

wow

[THEspindoctor84]

I feel bad for the trumpet player who had to solo after him... hahahah!

[McMajestic992]

i dont kno much about these compositions in these bands but was that thing improvised...?

[Kkerr72]

Yes.

[dale1966gto]

you have to have played t-bone to appreciate how difficult it is to go through fast passages like that and move a slide that fast. the high register notes were killer as well. great job, slide.

[xHambone357x]

i agree 100%, im 14 and ive played the trombone for 6 yrs, im pretty good but nothing at all compared to that... not even close :(

[kfay1980]

yea man

[elfhurercico]

Yeaaah!

[babaribaska]

no words

[xHambone357x]

1:35 is insane.

Great trombone player

[BIG6BAD6BULLY]

The trombone looks like a King 4B. He has since moved on to a even larger bore trombone I understand. The King still sounds great.

[tromboista]

None of those glissandos to hide fake notes and all that. Just clean outstanding phrases. Next!

[xDiArtsx]

Man I feel bad 4 the trumpet player whos going next, i mean im sure hes a great player, but damn slide was A-mazing :)

[RedRaspus]

Yeah, it's a very young Jon Faddis

[TheRumster]

1:56: amazing

[czechnoob]

I Agree! The 1:30-end is the best! It is all awesome, but the end is great! Love Trombones!

[TheRumster]

It really is. Watched this video like 10 times and it gets better every time.

[czechnoob]

10 ttimes... I watched it maybee 100 times, trully :) I DO really like it!!

[xDiArtsx]

OMG I LOVE SLIDE HAMPTON !!! BRAVO !!

[HeNkiSdaBro]

God, what a great solo. Some inspiration right there. Rhythm section totally cooking!

[leehigbie]

most amazing trombone solo i've ever heard o.O

[TheRumster]

holy crap that was absolutely AMAZING

[bobilleg74]

Good stuff! Apparently, even in his 70's, his still practices for hours every day.

[basskicker17]

anyone notice how his trombone is on his right shoulder?

[RedRaspus]

Yeah, Slide is a lefty.

[AndresEstrada1]

@RedRaspus In fact, Slide is a natural right-handed, but in his childhood he received the left-handed trombone from his father, who was a lefty, and continued to play this way because it's easier to learn than to retrain. So I'm glad to listen to left-handed trombonist Slide Hampton! Yeah=))

[funkyg50rules]

@RedRaspus he's not a lefty, he just learned left handed, no one taught him how to play, they just gave him a trombone and that's how he learned.

[conradical89]

this is why i play trombone!!

[vitesenzafine]

Yeah, and this is why I *quit* playing trombone...!

[drewroberts]

...wow...

[Boneart005]

Great Solo ! :-)

[PaulMunger]

wow....

[Wilsox]

that was killing and I was the first trombone player and person to comment that. yeah hell!!