"A turning point came in 1936, when Benny Goodman, along with his pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa, jammed with Lionel Hampton at the residency he held at the Paradise Club in Los Angeles. Goodman immediately hired Hampton, and he was soon participating as a vibraharpist on some of the classic small-band recording sessions of the swing era (pioneering examples of racial mixing, too) and sometimes deputising for Krupa as the Goodman band's drummer. Hampton's true musical skills emerged in this period, his vibes-playing a sophisticated mix of a drummer's drive and a broader melodic imagination than his later circus-act ostentation gave him credit for..." - The Guardian - Lionel Hampton obituary, 2002