Lionel Hampton is one of the best-known swing-era orchestra leaders. He formed his own big band after playing the vibraphone in bands led by Les Hite and Benny Goodman. Hampton was not the first jazz musician to take up the vibraphone, but he was the first to give the instrument an identity in jazz, applying a wide range of attacks and generating remarkable swing. Hampton's band played a major role in shaping American jazz and was the launching pad for such stellar performers as Dinah Washington, Charlie Parker, and Quincy Jones. In this February 17, 1958 concert, Lionel Hampton's big band offers an explosive performance at the Théâtre Royal in Liège, Belgium.