Locksley Wellington Hampton, born April 21, 1932 and died November 18, 2021 was an American jazz trombonist. Critics describe Hampton as a master arranger, composer and trombone player. His career is one of the most prestigious in jazz. Hampton was a slide trombone player, although he occasionally used flugelhorn and tuba. Locksley Wellington Hampton was conceived in Jeannette on 21 April 1932. Clarke “Deacon,” Hampton and Laura Hampton had 12 children. They taught them how to play the musical instruments and started a family band with them. In 1938, the family arrived in Indianapolis. The Hamptons were a musical family. Mother, father, eight siblings and four brothers all played instruments. Dawn Hampton Whitted and Virtue Hampton Whitted were his sisters. Slide Hampton is one left-handed trombone player. Hampton received the trombone that could be used to play either left-handed or backwards as a child. He continued to use it until his death. Slide was 12 years old when he joined his family’s Indianapolis jazz band The Duke Hampton Band. He was 20 years old when he performed at Carnegie Hall with The Lionel Hampton Band in 1952. He was a member of the Buddy Johnson’s Rock Band.
