DIED. LIONEL HAMPTON, 94, jazz vibraphonist whose effervescent performance style and masterly solo technique greatly extended jazz's popularity and turned him into one of the music's few household names; in New York City. Born in Louisville, Ky., Hampton started out playing drums before Louis Armstrong persuaded him to take up the vibraphone. After playing with Armstrong, Benny Goodman and others, he headlined his own big band, making extensive tours of Europe and Asia and gaining fans worldwide with such works as his 1942 classic Flying Home. In 1997, two days before he was awarded the National Medal of Arts, Hampton's New...
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