Dawn Hampton Obit

Dawn Hampton Obituary

 

She was not on the list.

Dawn Hampton

88, a life long performer, died on September 25, 2016 in New York City. Dawn was the second youngest child of the celebrated Hampton Family, Indianapolis' jazz dynasty which was awarded the State of Indiana's Governor Arts Award (1991), honored at the Indy Jazz Fest (2000) and featured in the PBS documentary "The Unforgettable Hampton Family" in 2011.

Dawn was a dancer, a singer and a musician who started performing on stage with her family at the age of three. In 1958 Dawn moved to New York City and became the "Queen of Cabaret". "The Lady" delighted audiences with her original compositions and moving interpretations of songs, often bringing audiences to tears. Her love of dance and innate musicality pointed her golden shoes to swing dancing where she inspired a new generation of dancers worldwide.

A celebration of her life is being planned in New York City and around the globe. Dawn Hampton is survived by brothers Slide Hampton (New Jersey) and Maceo Hampton (Detroit) and several nieces and nephews.

Hampton family's band The Hampton Sisters in the late 1930s. During World War II and into early 1950s, she performed as part of a quartet with her three sisters and in a jazz band with all nine of her surviving siblings. Hampton moved to New York City in 1958 to pursue a solo career as a cabaret singer. She became a singer/songwriter and dancer, which included off-Broadway theatre performances and swing dancing in Hollywood films.

Dawn Hampton was born on June 8, 1928, in Middletown, Ohio, to Laura and Clarke "Deacon" Hampton. Clarke Hampton was born in Batavia, Ohio, in 1877, to William and Elizabeth Hampton, and studied music and art while attending a military academy in Xenia, Ohio. He married Laura Burford in 1908.

The Hamptons were a musical family. Both parents played musical instruments: Clarke played saxophone and drums; Laura played piano. The family included twelve children, three of whom died young. The nine surviving children included four daughters (Carmalita, Aletra, Virtue, and Dawn) and five sons (Clarke Jr. "Duke", Marcus, Russell "Lucky", Maceo, and Locksley "Slide"). The siblings were trained by their parents to play musical instruments. Dawn learned to play the alto saxophone and later became a vocalist who specialized in ballads. Under their father's leadership the Hampton children began performing in the family band at a young age. Dawn joined the family band and its vaudeville act at the age of three, beginning her long career as a musical performer.

The Hampton family settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1938, when Dawn was tens years old. She attended Indianapolis Public Schools, including Crispus Attucks High School, but left to perform with the Hampton family band. Although she did not have professional music training, four of her brothers (Marcus, "Lucky", Maceo, and "Slide") took lessons as the MacArthur Conservatory of Music.

Dawn Hampton never married and had no children. Her youngest brother, "Slide" Hampton, is a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a noted jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger. She is also a distant cousin of Lionel Hampton.

During the 1970s and 1980s Hampton continued her career as a cabaret performer in the New York City area. In 1972 she performed at the Continental Baths with artists such as Cab Calloway, Bette Midler, and Barry Manilow. In 1989 she collaborated with Mark Nadler to write music and lyrics for Red Light, a honky-tonk mini-opera that received a Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) award in 1990. Hampton and Nadler also collaborated on An Evening with Dawn Hampton. The show enjoyed an extended run at Don't Tell Mama, a West 46th Street music venue.

In 1990 Hampton collaborated on music and lyrics for the play, Madame C. J. Walker. In 1992, along with Frankie Manning and Sonny Allen, she appeared as a dancer in the Lindy Hop swing dance scene in Spike Lee's movie, Malcolm X.