Police Stops Hampton Madness

( Naar de Nederlandse vertaling.)Politie Stopt Hampton-razernij.
Almost a year ago I published a contribution titled Burgemeester ( = Mayor). refering to a column of Kronkel, pseudonym of Simon Carmiggelt, a well known Dutch journalist and writer. In this blog I told about the Dutch Lionel Hampton concerts from the 1950s which causes a storm of protests. The mayor of Amsterdam forbid all jazz night concerts, but I learned that most ( if not all) concerts continued normally. I wondered how this problem was solved or was it a storm in a teacup. Arnold van Kampen, researched this incident some times ago and published it in the magazine "Carmiggelt" in his article: Simon Carmiggelt, de jazzliefhebber - #7. Arnold allowed me to publish some parts of this article. In the first part I love to inform you about what happened during the two Lionel Hampton concerts and in the second part he'll inform us about the column Burgemeester and what happened after the ban of night concerts.
Hans Koert keepwinging@live.nl

Kannibalistische rhythmen ( =cannibalistic rhythms): Photo Ed van der Elsken.

28th of October 1954, Lionel Hampton in the Apollohall. ( Amsterdam 7.30 p.m. - 9.45 p.m.)
Nat Adderley, Wallace Davenport, Billy Brooks, Eddie Mullins trumpet - Harold Roberts, Al Hayse, Buster Cooper trombone - Jay Dennis, Bobby Plater, Jay Peters Elwyn Frasier, Joe Evans reeds - Dwike Mitchell piano, Lionel Hampton vibraphone, drums, piano, Billy Mackel guitar, Peter Badie bass, Wilford Eddleton and Curley Hamner drums. Vocals by Bertice Reading, Sonnie Parker, Al Taylor. Ann Nicolas and Curley Hamner dance.

On the 28th of October 1954 vibraphone player, pianist, drummer and entertainer Lionel Hampton, together with his big band, singers and dancers performed at the Amsterdam Apollo Hall, in a concert that would become a black page in Dutch jazz history for many Dutch jazz fans. Mind, that we are talking about the 1950s. There was no real popular music for the youngsters, as Bill Hailey ("Rock around the clock") and Elvis Presley ( "Heartbreak hotel") played their hits in 1956, "rock-'n-roll" would become the new music that would evaluate into pop music nowadays. In the early 1950s, the time of this concert, teen-agers and adolescents used jazz to oppose against the elder generations.
Lionel Hampton took advantage of these needs and brought an exciting whipped up rhythmical show. That evening the audience liked the rhythms and danced and jived all together, with the result that they felt through the floor of the Apollo Hall and the complete interior became a mess.
What a shame ...... everybody cried shame over it. A shame for a society of hard working decent people. The jazz magazine "Rhythme" wrote on the 15th of November 1954: Zolang men Jazz en Nosemschap als een eenheid blijft beschouwen, blijven excessen als deze Hampton-concerten te verwachten. (= As long as people love to identify jazz to Nozems ( = Hooligans avant la lettre), this kind of extreme excesses, like at the Hampton-concerts, will continue. ). Zolang men alleen maar kannibalistisch rhythmen weet te onderscheiden en te waarderen, zijn we behoorlijk op "weg".( = If one only recognizes and enjoys these cannibalistic rhythms, we are really lost ..... ). Al degenen die deze avond hebben bijgewoond en perse op hun kop moesten gaan staan, moeten er rekening mee houden, dat de jazz voor hele normale mensen is en niet voor artistiekerige en geëxalteerde nosempies." ( = People who were at the concert and did do these mad things, should know that jazz is for normal people, and not for those artistic ecstatic hooligans. )

Police Stops Hampton Madness: photo Ed van der Elsken

Two years later the story continued ........

24th of March 1956, Lionel Hampton performed in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam ( at midnight): Billy Brooks, Eddie Mullens, David Gonsalves, Eddie Preston trumpet - Al Hayse, Walter Morris, Larry Wilson trombone - Scoville Browne, Bobby Plater, Ricky Brauer, Eddie Chamblee reeds - Oscar Dennard piano - Lionel Hampton vibraphone, piano and drums - Billy Mackel guitar - Peter Badie bass - Albert Gardner and Curley Hamner drums. Lora Pierre vocal. Curley Hamner, one of the percussionists is also dancer.

Concert at the Houtrusthallen in The Hague.(24th of March 1956)

That evening they played first in a concert at the Houtrusthallen in The Hague ( 8.00 pm). At midnight Lionel Hampton performed with his 17-men big band on stage at The Concertgebouw - Amsterdam. Again ……….... it gets out of hand! At half past two that night Amsterdam policemen finish the concert. The next day the news paper head lines read: "Hampton met sterke arm van podium gezet" ( = Hampton stopped by police); "Politie stopt Hampton-razernij" ( =Police stops Hampton-madness ) ;"Stuitende vertoning in het Concertgebouw" (= Shocking scene in the Concertgebouw”) and "Bezeten dans op scherven glas" ( =Mad audience dances on broken glass). The Jazz magazine "Rhythme" writes at wit's end: Het begrip "Jazz" dat bij de doorsnee-Nederlander toch al geen bijster goede naam had, heeft weer eens een fikse opdoffer-naar-omlaag gekregen.( = The word Jazz has a bad sense for a lot of people; after this concert it will be more worse ..... ) Het is nu eenmaal zo, dat het grote publiek, de Hampton-hospartij voor "jazz" aanziet en alle lieden, die langzaam maar zeker datzelfde publiek wat beter begrip over de jazzmuziek willen bijbrengen, kunnen weer helemaal overnieuw beginnen."(= It is a fact, that the man-in-the-street thinks that Hampton's music and the audience swaying back and forth on the music is jazz; everybody who wants to keep it pure can start all over again)

Modern Jazz Quartet (photo Hans Buter)
At the town hall, the Amsterdam mayor d'Ailly has his own responsibility. When he learns about disturbances in other cities at jazz concerts, he decides that this madness should be stopped. On the 27th of September 1956, The Parool, a Dutch news paper reads: "Mr. d'Ailly weigert vergunning voor jazzorkesten." ( = Mayor d'Ailly refuses permits for jazz concerts.)
The first concert that had to be cancelled was a concert by the Modern Jazz Quartet in November 1956. What a blunder, as the Modern Jazz Quartet makes jazz that is closely related to classical music with musicians always performing dressed in dress suits.

(To be continued)
Arnold van Kampen
Other contributions: Oscar Peterson: The Vocal Styling - Oscar Peterson’s Van Gogh Story

JAZZ - ED VAN DER ELSKEN:
The Dutch photographer Ed Van Der Elsken recorded the Dutch jazz scene of the 1950s in his black & white photos in a great character of an era. His Lionel Hampton photos of the two concerts are a great document of this period and these events. His photos are published in the book Jazz that has been a collector's item for years, but I saw in our book shop that it is reprinted. So .. get yourself a copy !!

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Nederlands ( To the English translation )

Bijna een jaar geleden plaatste ik een bijdrage getiteld Burgemeester, die refereerde aan een titel van Kronkel, de bijnaam van onze bekendste columnist Simon Carmiggelt. In die blog vertelde ik over de concerten van het Lionel Hampton orkest in de jaren vijftig, die alle nogal tumultueus verliepen, hetgeen resulteerde in een verbod van nachtconcerten in Amsterdam. Ik ontdekte echter dat de meeste nachtconcerten na dit verbod gewoon doorgang vonden en vroeg me af of iemand me hierover opheldering kon geven. Arnold van Kampen, onderzocht dit incident enige tijd geleden en publiceerde zijn verslag in het tijdschrift "Carmiggelt" in het artikel: Simon Carmiggelt, de jazzliefhebber - 7. Arnold stuurde me delen van dit artikel toe en stond me toe hierover op mijn blog te publiceren. In het eerste deel, Politie stopt Hampton-razernij, word je vooral geinformeerd worden over de twee tumultueuze Lionel Hampton concerten en in het tweede deel, MJQ: geen hadde-kidéé-clubje lees je wat er nu na het verbod op nachtconcerten gebeurde.

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

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