Chuck Lampkin was an American jazz-percussionist and TV-news anchorman.
Early years
Charles Roland "Chuck" Lampkin was born on June 5, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio to Charles and Myrtle Lampkin, both of Alabama. In 1933, Charles Lampkin Sr., a pioneer of Spoken Word, graduated from Cleveland Central High School, Langston Hughes's alma mater. By 1934 he was a high school music teacher in the WPA program. His first wife Myrtle worked as a secretary for the Veterans Administration from 1946, retiring as an adjudicator in 1976.
Career in music
1952–1970
Chuck Lampkin studied piano from a young age and taught himself percussion while touring with small time popular dance music groups during the 1950s doo-wop era. At this time, Cleveland was the hometown of a number of commercially successful doo-wop groups including the Moonglows. His first known recording is a dixieland jazz album on the Verve label recorded in March 1960 with The Happy Jazz of Rex Stewart. Expecting to be drafted into the U.S. Army at any time, Lampkin joined the U.S. Army band in 1958 as a percussionist in an effort to have more influence over where and how he would serve. His military prior band service notwithstanding, he was drafted into the U.S. army and sent to West Germany around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His career with Dizzy Gillespie soon ended.
The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet (1960–1961)
Around 1960, Chuck Lampkin became the percussionist for the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. Historically significant recordings were produced during his tenure and he introduced the Bossa Nova rhythm to North American audiences after the Gillespie Quintet State Department tours to Brazil. On November 20, 1960, the quintet recorded the Gillespiana album for the Verve label in Paris. The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet played regularly at landmark jazz venues such as New York City's Birdland and on February 9, 1961, recorded An Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet at New York'sMuseum of Modern Art. A month later on March 4, 1961, the quintet performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded Carnegie Hall Concert for the Verve label. In September, the quintet recorded its third album for 1961: A Musical Safari – Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Jazz Casual was a series on jazz music produced at National Educational Television, the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service. The show was produced by Richard Moore and KQED of San Francisco, California. It ran from 1961 to 1968 and was hosted by journalist and jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason, who would go on to co-found Rolling Stone magazine. The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet had its debut on the program on January 17, 1961. Personal were Dizzy Gillespie Leo Wright Lalo Schifrin Bob Cunningham and Chuck Lampkin They performed: "Norm's Norm", "Blues After Dark", "Lorraine", "Tocatta from Gillespiana", "Jazz Casual".
State Department Jazz Ambassador
In 1956, The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet became part of a campaign by the State Department to spread American culture and music around the world during the Cold War, especially into countries whose allegiances were not well defined or that were perceived as being at risk of aligning with the Soviet Union. As a first salvo in a program that would continue for more than two decades, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. proposed that Dizzy Gillespie form a big band to represent the U.S. as musical envoys. The State Department and the Eisenhower Administration agreed and the group embarked for Southern Europe and the Middle East in 1956. In 1960 and 1961, Chuck Lampkin toured with the Quintet to the UK, France, Sweden and Brazil. During the State Department sponsored Brazil tour, Lampkin learned the Bossa nova rhythm and brought it back to North America.
The Eddie Harris Group
In November, 1962, Lampkin recorded Bossa Nova with the Eddie Harris jazz group for the Vee-Jay Records.
The Eddie "Lock-Jaw" Davis Quintet
Starting in 1963, Lampkin joined the Eddie “Lock-Jaw” Davis Quintet and recorded albums including Bossa Nova and Jazz for "Breakfast at Tiffany's".
In 1963 Lampkin joined Ahmed Jamal and bassist Jamil Sulieman to form the Ahmed Jamal Trio. Three recordings were produced: Ahmed Jamal Naked City Theme 1964, the Roar of the Greasepaint and Macanudo In the early 1960s, jazz music declined in popularity as other music forms became more commercially viable. Earning a living as a jazz musician became a challenge. Lampkin then turned his attention to television. On November 2, 1970, on WIBV TV in Buffalo, New York, Lampkin would become one of the first Black men to present the nightly news in North America.
Career in broadcast journalism (1970–1999)
Chuck Lampkin presented the nightly news on WBEN TV in Buffalo from 1970 until 1980 when he moved to WDSU-TV in New Orleans. He continued in this capacity until 1985 when he became director of telecommunications for Mayor Ernest Nathan Morial. In the early 90s, Lampkin created a television show called "Cookin with Soul" and tried, without success, to get it into syndication. From 1995, Lampkin presented the news for News 12 New Jersey, a cable channel, until he had a stroke in 1999.
Death
On February 10, 2003, Chuck Lampkin died of kidney failure and other ailments. His funeral was conducted on February 18 by Rev. Dale Lind at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan where the late Puerto Rican pastor John Gensil had started a Jazz vespers service in the 1960s. Lampkin was survived by his wife Gail Robichaux and a son and daughter from prior relationships.
