_________________________ Portland Observer
June 1 2 ,1991—The Portland Observer—Page 5
ENTERTAINMENT
31 NW First
Father’s Day cards
designed by local artist
Charlotte Lewis
223-9919
W E D N E S D A Y J U N E 12
P e rfe c t 10
♦
T H U R S D A Y J U N E 13
J o s e p h in e O c e a n
♦
• I L Í LJ i V ' f f l i l i ' i a f l l T d •
• r
1 . j 1 1 1 1 9 •
• I i •* » ' 11 ■ > 1 I 1 1 1 1 11 ■ •
.................................•
k
PRESENTS
¿Mph
SCHOOt
F R ID A Y J U N E 14
B od y & Soul
♦
THURS., JUNE 13
THRU
SUN., JUNE 16
S A TU R D A Y J U N E 15
B ody & Soul
♦
PORTLAND
MEMORIAL
COLISEUM
S U N D A Y J U N E 16
C ra z y 8s
♦
M O N D A Y J U N E 17
R e a s o n W hy
♦
T U E S D A Y J U N E 18
R u ra l E arl
“ADVERTISE
PORTLÁ.\D(QBSERVER
Thur., Jun 13
Fri., Jun 14
Sat., Jun 15 Sun., Jun 16
★ 7:30 PM
▲ 10:30 AM
• 7:30 PM
11:00 PM
■ 3:00 PM
★ KOIN-TV/FRED MEYER FAMILY
NIGHT - Save $3 on all seats.
▲ 2100 JUICE & COOKIES MATINEE
All seats $7.50 (no further discounts).
Special treat for children after the show.
• KPTV/PEPSI WATCH NIGHT - Free
souvenir watch for first 1,000 children.
■ DePAUL DUCKY DERBY DAY
Portion of proceeds benefits
DePaul Treatment Centers..
1:00 PM
4:30 PM
TICKETS: $10 & $8; $1.50
per ticket discount for boys
and girls 2-12 courtesy of
JCPenney.
ON SALE NOW at the
Coliseum, Performing Arts
Center, Civic Auditorium &
all G.l. Joe/Ticketmaster
outlets {service charges may
be added I.
FOR INFO ft CHARGE BY
PHONE: 2 4 8 -4 4 9 6 I service
charges may apply).
FOR GROUP DISCOUNT
INFO: 235-8771
Schedule sub/ect to change due to NBA Playoffs.
SESAME STREET LIVE M aturino SESAME STREET CHARACTERS is presented bv VEE CORPORATION in rn n n a ra i^ n
with CHILDREN S TELEVISION WORKSHOP SESAME STREET c J a R^CTER? C Ï Î Ï Ï Z
His Love, Pain ...And All That Jazz
BY WALLACE TERRY
TAKEN FROM THE PARADE
MAGAZINE JU N E 16, 1991
The legendary musician Lionel Hamp
ton always has lived his life on the
upbeat. B u t a tim e came when he was
sorely tested.
O N E D A Y , a 2 2-Y E A R -O LD
D R U M M E R named Lionel Hampton
was making a recording w ith his idol,
Louis Arm strong, at N BC studios in
Los Angeles. Arm strong pointed to an
instrument sittin g over in the comer
and asked Hampton what it was. “ I t ’ s
called a vibraharp,” Hampton said. NBC
used it as chimes fo r intermission sig
nals during radio broadcasts. “ Do you
know how to play it?” Armstrong asked.
“ Yeah,” Hampton lied. “ Play some
th in ’ then,” Louis Armstrong said.
Never having played a note on the
instrument before, Hampton tapped out
a solo he’d learned from an Armstrong
recording. “ M an, that sounds great,”
Arm strong said. “ L e t’s put it on rec
o rd .” They did. “ Memories o f Y o u ”
marked the firs t tim e jazz was played
on the vibraharp. Hampton made sweet
musical history and found his instru
ment.
I had set out to discover the secret
o f Lio ne l Hampton, a musical genius
fo r six decades. W hat I uncovered was
more than a p ortrait o f a great man. I
found a love story.
Today, at 83, Lionel H am pton -
one o f the last o f the great big-band
leaders-gi ves upward o f 200 concerts a
year here and abroad, a pace that m ight
defeat someone h a lf his age. Although
he’s a jazz legend, celebrity is no big
deal to him , and he’ s very modest about
his accomplishments. His zest for life is
infectious. “ I just love everybody, man.
T hat’ s how I am ,” he said, that famous
grin sweeping across his face.
But in 1971, Hampton faced a c ri
sis that nearly ended his career, he was
; in Toronto on tour w ith his band when
: he got a phone call from B ill Titone, his
• record producer. “ Lionel, I want you to
; be brave,” Titone said. “ Gladys is dead.
1 Come on home.”
Today, 20 years after the loss o f his
I w ife , Lionel Hampton can still recall
'■ the pain. “ It fe lt like the w orld was
; coming to an end,” he told me, as we
sat in his apartment rising high above
Lin coln Center and the Hudson River
on New Y o rk’ s West Side. “ I miss
her” , he said. “ I miss her.” Hampton
had experienced untimely losses o f loved
ones before-his father, the grandmother
who raised him. He had survived hard
times and racial insults along his jo u r
ney to international stardom. But noth
ing so tested his faith in music, in the
power o f love and in God H im self than
the loss o f Gladys. When she died, the
music stopped. “ I did n ’t want to play
fo r a long tim e,” he recalled.
National Black Theatre Festival
Hampton is a man who, throughout
his life , has deeply entrusted him self to
women. Unusual fo r a man o f his gen
eration, he leaned on them; they guided
him . H is w ife was his love, his friend and
his mentor. H ow was Hampton able to
put his life back together after his loss?
To find out, you have to go back to the
beginning, to the firs t woman in his life.
L io n e l’ s firs t love was his grand
mother, Mama Louvenia. A n evangelist
and healer in the Holiness Church in
Birmingham, Ala., she took him to church
every day and four times on Sunday.
“ She ju st taught me so m uch,” he re
called. “ She taught me to pray. Have
love in your heart. She would be careful
about keeping the Commandments. Do
not steal. I can’ t take one penny from
nobody. I f I fin d out that someone has
overpaid me, I tell the agent, ‘ Give it
rig h t back.’ And share. When I was
little , i f I had fiv e pennies, and you asked
fo r one, I w ould give you tw o .” Then a
laugh broke from deep in his belly. “ I
never w ould share m y drums, though.
I ’d keep them, m an.”
“ I just loved m y grandmother,” he
continued. “ She took me everyplace.
And she was everything to m e.” He
lifte d a sepia-toned photograph o f a
beautiful little g irl from the polished top
o f his grand piano. “ T hat’s her, man,”
he said.
W e walked slow ly across the soft
blue rugs o f his liv in g room and sat down
at the kitchen table. I asked Hampton
what kind o f c h ild he was. “ I was bom
w ith m usic,” he said. * * I used to get up in
the m orning and beat on the pots and
pans. I used the rounds from underneath
the kitchen chair fo r my drumsticks. I
always had rhythm in me. And I ’ m like
that today.”
He was bom in Lou isville, where
his father had worked on the railroad.
His father went o ff to W o rld W ar 1 and
didn ’ t return, so Hampton and his mother
moved back home to Alabama. When
his mother remarried, Hampton went to
live w ith her mother, Louvenia Morgan.
L it tle H am p became M am a
Louvenia's favorite. When he was felled
by pneumonia, she prayed over him until
the fever broke. When he suffered an
attack o f appendicitis, said Hampton,
she prayed over him until the symptoms
subsided. A t church, he sat next to her in
the first pew. One Sunday he made an
audacious debut. He had ju s t turned 9.
“ They had a te rrific band," he re
called. “ Trombones, saxophones, gui
tars. And they had a sister that played
bass drum. And she could play, man.
When she would get happy, she would
start to dance up and down the aisle and
start ro llin g w ith the H oly Ghost. When
she dropped the drumstick, I picked right
up on the beat and started bearin' the
bass.”
He told Mama Louvenia he wanted
1
to grow up to be a drummer. She
d id n ’ t object. Said Hampton: “ She
told me, ‘God gave you the talent, so
you must manifest it. I f that’ s God’ s
w ill and your desire, you w ill be a
drum m er.’ ”
In 1919 Mama Louvenia decided
to fo llo w the black m igration to C hi
cago. She sent her son Richard ahead
to prepare the way. “ When Uncle
Richard met us, he took us to this
fabulous duplex,” Hampton said. "W e
found out later he had hooked up w ith
A1 Capone. W e stayed on one side,
and they were m akin’ bathtub gin and
whiskey on the other. T o give the
whiskey color, w e’d pour in brown
sugar. T hat’s where the term ‘ bub
b lin ’ brown sugar’ comes from .”
Hampton leaned back in his chair and
laughed at the irony o f Mama Lou-
venia’s brood liv in g o ff the profits o f
bootlegging. “ The family lived good,”
he went on. “ Funny thing about it.
W e never discussed where the money
came fro m .”
To escape the mean streets o f
their neighborhood, where gangs
fought on their way to school, Mama
Louvenia sent Hampton to Catholic
school-the H oly Rosary Academy,
near M ilw aukee. One o f the teachers,
Sister Petra, taught him how to play
the drums. “ She really learned me
too,” he recalled, “ She learned me
a ll the 26 rudiments. You had to play
them right, or else she would beat
your knuckles.”
Back in Chicago, his musical
education was furtherd by Maj. Nathan
Clark Smith, a form er bandmaster for
Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.
It was Ham pton’s love fo r Gla
dys that had helped him through the
tough times. It was that love that
helped him become world-famous. It
was his love fo r Gladys that pulled
him through even the shock o f her
death. And his love for her has sus
tained him ever since. ‘ ‘Gladys is still
here,” he said. “ N ot a day goes by I
don’ t think o f her.”
Today, in her memory, he en
dows scholarships, helps to support a
low-incom e housing project in New
Y o rk C ity and takes his band to high
schools to promote an anti-drug
campaign.
“ Music makes me happy, and I
want to keepplaying for her,” Hamp
ton told me. “ I don’ t ever intend to
retire.” In his bedroom is a set o f
drums. Near the front door is a set o f
vibes. “ I got up at 3 this m orning to
practice,” he said. “ I did some stuff
on the vibes that scared me to death.”
He flashed that jack-o-lantcm grin,
then gave me a w ink. “ Remember
what the Bible says: ‘ Blow the trum
pet, beat the cym bals.’ T hat’ s all I
ever tried to do.”
Father’ s Day cards designed by
local artist Charlotte Lew is are now
available at Jabell’ s Beauty Supply
House, the Urban League o f Portland
and the Portland Observer.
These cards were designed spe
c ific a lly fo r African Am erican fathers
because o f their special attempt to blend
a loving message w ith a positive health
message which urges dads to take re
sponsibility fo r their health. This is an
especially urgent message since A fr i
can American men have the shortest
life span o f any other segment o f the
American population. For it to be de
livered by the children o f the black
comm unity is especially meaningful.
The Father's Day card project was
developed by the Portland African
American Health Coalition. A Mother’s
Day card was issued by this group this
past M ay. There is no fee charged for
the cards, however, donations w ill be
accepted at the above mentioned d istri
bution outlets. Proceeds w ill be used to
defray the cost o f future projects. For
more inform ation about the coalition
and its activities, contact: Theresa
W illiam s-Stoudam ire, 248-5183.
Bus Tour Offered
Through Portland
Parks Bureau
James W. Johnston, chairman and chief executive officer, R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company (left), and Larry Leon Hamlin, executive/artistic
director of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, participated in a
recent news conference to announce Reynolds Tobacco 's support of one
of the most historic and culturally significant events in the history of Black
theatre-THE NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL, which will be
held in Winston-Salem, August 5-10.
The company's contribution of $100,000 will sponsor the festival's
opening night gala, where Denzel Washington will be the featured guest.
Other celebrities attending the festival are Avery Brooks, Glenn Turman,
Esther Rolle, Moses Gunn, Danny Glover, Bill Duke, Beah Richards and
Juanita Moore.
The National Black Theatre Festival was first held in 1989, when celebrity
participants included Oprah Winfrey, Lou Gossett, Jr., Cicely Tyson,
Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Roscoe Lee Browne and Antonio Fargas.
The festival is a national outreach program of the North Carolina Black
Repertory Company, one of America's leading professional Black
theatres.
Camp Fire Day In The Park!
Come to Day Camp in the park.
Camp F ire’ s Camp Tolinda is close to
home this summer in beautiful Colum
bia Park (at Lombard and Chautauqua).
It is easily accessible to North, N orth
east and Northwest Portland. A t Day
Camp kids w ill hike, swim, sing, learn
camp and nature crafts and meet w ith
friends their own age. Parents who
volunteer as a day camp counselor
receive training, learn new skills and
their children, ages 3 and above attend
fo r free. Volunteer positions are open
to 8th graders through adults. Many
more volunteer counselors are needed
to make day camps available to more
children.
T w o eight-day sessions are avail
able running July 8-18 and July 22-
August 1. Each session is affordably
priced at $40 per child and is open to al 1
boys and girls entering grades 1-7. Call
Portland Camp Fire at 224-7800 for a
counselor application or camp brochure
and set o ff on a summer experience to
remember.
The Portland Parks Bureau’s Out
door Recreation department is offering
an extensive program o f bus tours
exploring some o f the highlights o f
summer in the Northwest. The tours,
led by Outdoor Recreation Tour Direc
tor Bruce W atkins, are focused on the
outdoors and require no extended w alk
ing.
On July 28 there w ill be a bus tour
that boards the Stemwheeler Columbia
Gorge at Cascade Locks fo r a buffet
Sunday brunch w hile cruising the river.
The fee is $44 including the bus trip,
Stemwheeler cruise and brunch.
ACTORS, SINGERS,
and DANCERS
Retired actors, singers and
dancers are being sought
as cast members in the
Oregon Senior Theatre.
Interested persons must
be 55 and older. Auditions
will be held at the
Hollywood Senior Center,
1820 N.E. 40 on Thursday,
June 20 from 3:00 - 6:00
p.m. For more information,
call 281-6141.
State Fair
Announces
Entertainment
The Oregon State Fair has booked
the m ajority o f its big name entertain
ment for the 1991 Fair. A ll acts w ill
perform in the L .B . Day Amphitheatre
on the fairgrounds.
The acts scheduled are: Paul Re
vere and The Raiders, Aug. 24; the
True Value/GMC Truck Country Show
down w ith B.J. Thomas, Aug. 28; K .T.
O slin, Aug. 29; Stevie B., Aug. 30;
B a illie and The Boys, Aug. 31; The
Kingston T rio , Sept. 1; and Fats D om
ino, Sept. 2. These acts are free w ith
the price o f fa ir admission.
The acts planned fo r August 22
and 23 w ill be announced at a later
date. A ll scheduled acts are subject to
change.
The Oregon State Fair w ill run
August 22 through September 2.
James Williams
Just James Fashions
Presents
MEGA FATHER’S DAY SALE
Item
Regular
Sale
Silk Dress Shirt
Silk Ties
Silk Tee Sets
2 pc Silk Short Sets
Docker Jeans
Rayon Shirts
Leather Short Pants
Ennesi Shoes sizes 13 to 16
$38.95
38.95
44.95
94.95
37.95
36.95
149.95
30% Off
$31.20
31.20
35.96
75.20
30.40
29.60
99.95 Spcl
Special Men’s Suit Sale
Featuring
Ferrini
San Remo
San Georgio
Italuomo
Adolpho
Others
* 10% Off Ladies m erchandise
if purchased with m en's goods
Sale ends 6/15/91
Hours:
Tue - Fri 12 noon to 8 pm
Sat -11 am to 6 pm
Sun/M on Closed
1405 NE Broadway • 287-7230