Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Verve/UMe’s Acoustic Sounds Series continues to deliver with a trio of great new albums and plenty more to come.
In February, the label reissued the Oscar Peterson Trio’s Night Train, a romp through the American Songbook from the title track to “I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good.” It also presents Peterson’s “Hymn To Freedom,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Add Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums and you’ve got pure magic.
In March, the label released the grooving Alice Coltrane album Journey In Satchidananda, featuring saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. First released in 1971, the music sounds as fresh as today.
And, in April, the label unleashes Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio’s 1965 live recording Smokin’ At The Half Note, a blistering affair released, in part, to celebrate the centennial of Montgomery’s birth on March 6. All releases in the series have been mastered in stereo from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. DB
(shop.ververecords.com)
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
“Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”
Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the…
Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall
Feb 17, 2026 11:05 AM
They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston’s highly prestigious College of…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
Feb 19, 2026 10:39 AM
Jazz camps have exploded around the globe as a summertime tradition for working on your chops and making new friends.…
Blindfold Test proctor Ted Panken, left, with the Grammy-winning Nicole Zuraitis.
Feb 24, 2026 12:00 PM
After earning the 2024 Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy for her seventh album, How Love Begins (La Reserve), comprising 12…
