The Hampton Family

The Hampton Family – In the late 1920s, the Hampton family left Middletown, Ohio, and traveled the country as “Deacon Hampton and the Cotton Pickers.” Adept at ragtime, blues, dixieland, polka, reels and whatever else was in demand, the family group survived the road for many years and settled in Indianapolis in 1938 after long engagements at the city’s Cotton Club and Sunset Tavern. Not only were both parents musical, but all twelve of the children (eight boys and four girls) played instruments as well. Furthermore, the children received their first training outside of the home at the McArthur School of Music on Indiana Avenue. During WWII, the Cotton Pickers disbanded, and the four daughters formed the short-lived Hamptonians. Led by Clarke, Jr. (or “Duke”), the Duke Hampton Band, made up of the eight children and sometimes other local musicians (Pookie Johnson, Jimmy Coe, etc.), played locally and beyond from 1945 to the 1950s. More specifically, the group made stops in Miami (nine months in the Liberty City neighborhood), Cincinnati (Cotton Club), Washington, D.C. (Howard Theater), and New York City (The Savoy Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, and the Apollo Theater). In 1952, twenty-year old Slide Hampton moved on to higher profile jazz gigs, and, in 1958, Dawn Hampton moved to New York City as a cabaret singer and songwriter, leaving behind Carmalita, Aletra, and Virtue (the second incarnation of the Hampton Sisters). Although Carmalita passed away in 1987, Aletra (1915-2007) and Virtue (1922-2007) received much-deserved attention in the local media during their final years and recorded a CD (The Hampton Sisters: A Jazz Tribute, 2003) under the auspices of the Indiana Historical Society. In the same year, they were featured at the Indy Jazz Fest with the following line-up: Aletra (piano, vocals), Virtue (bass, vocals), Lawrence Clark III (drums), and Alonzo “Pookie” Johnson (saxophone, 1927-2005), long-time Indy jazzman who played with countless area musicians including the Montgomery brothers.