Quotes from Lionel Hampton

Playing is my way of thinking, talking, communicating.

So I always figured I'd still be playing at this age.

Music was our wife, and we loved her. And we stayed with her, and we clothed her, and we put diamond rings on her hands.

Black and white players hadn't appeared together in public before Teddy Wilson and I began working with B.G.

Playing gives me as much good feeling now as it did when I was a bitty kid.

I worked hard learning harmony and theory when I was growing up in Chicago in the 1920s.

I feel honored to have been a part of that dramatic change.

Man, as long as people want to hear Jazz, I'll give it to them.

Working with Benny was important for me and for black musicians in general.

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.

I worked hard learning harmony and theory when I was growing up in Chicago in the 1920s.

Seemed to me that drumming was the best way to get close to God.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.