NEW YORK -- The remains of jazz great Lionel Hampton were carried in a white horse-drawn hearse through the streets of Harlem on Saturday, with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis blowing a dirge to lead the funeral procession.

The 94-year-old showman and bandleader died Aug. 31 of heart failure. Hampton suffered two strokes in 1995 and had been in failing health in recent years.

Starting from the Cotton Club, once an icon of great music, hundreds of mourners walked in a procession to a service at the nearby Riverside Church.

President George W. Bush sent a letter of condolence, which was read by his father.

"His legacy of music, education and civic dedication will continue to inspire generations to come," the former president said, quoting his son.

The service was presided over by the Rev. James Forbes, pastor of the church, who called Hampton "this 20th-century marvel."

Bush remembered meeting Hampton when the former president was director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970s. At the time, Bush said, morale at the spy agency was low.

"He loaded his band on a bus, they came to CIA headquarters and performed to an overflow crowd," Bush recalled.

"Yes, I love this man," Bush told the congregation, his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke, with Hampton's coffin nearby. "This incredibly gifted musician had an incredible knack for friendship."

After the service, Hampton was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, near other greats of American music -- Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins and Irving Berlin.

Over a six-decade career, Hampton played with a who's who of jazz, from Benny Goodman to Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Quincy Jones.