Jon Mark McGowan

Playing trumpet with the great Lionel Hampton was one of the highlights of my musical career. My first tour was in 1995, a tour with the big band starting with the famous Nice France music festival.  The first night Lionel had the band play two encores after a very long set, which I quickly came to learn was his standard practice.

After that tour I played most of his big band gigs, first as third trumpet, then in 1998 as second trumpet until Lionel's death August 31, 2002.  Some of my greatest memories involve traveling with the big band to Seattle to play a week at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley to be followed by the great Moscow, Idaho music festival. Remembering Lionel's love and enthusiasm for music, even at an advanced age, continues to be an inspiration for me to this day.