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…
Saxophonist Archie Shepp (left) and pianist Jason Moran recorded a series of duets in 2017 and 2018 that are being released as Let My People Go.
(Photo: Accra Shepp)A pair of generation-defining performers announced their first collaborative album.
Saxophonist Archie Shepp and pianist Jason Moran, released a video for “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,” the first single from their upcoming Let My People Go recording. It’s a somber take of a somber tune, one supported by Moran’s bluesy gestures and Shepp’s emotive delivery on sax and vocals.
“Let My People Go offers ample evidence of Shepp and Moran’s consanguinity,” critic Ashley Kahn writes in the album’s liner notes. “Both were born in the [D]eep South, raised up in the sound of the blues and black gospel: Shepp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Moran in Houston, Texas. Both fell in love with jazz and other forms of cultural expression, and followed their muses north.”
On Let My People Go—which is due out Feb. 5 through the Archieball label—the duo also rework classics like “Isfahan,” “Lush Life” and “’Round Midnight.” DB
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.…
Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be among the headliners at this year’s DC JazzFest.
Mar 2, 2026 9:48 PM
The first wave of artists scheduled to perform at the 2026 DC JazzFest have been announced. This year’s headliners…
