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…
After a year-long break, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones have returned, and will release The Hidden Land (Columbia) on Jan. 31.
The stripped down album was recorded entirely at Fleck’s home in Nashville and he called its title a nod to music that exists for its own sake rather than transient or commercial instincts. “There is a hidden land out there, a territory where people push boundaries of music,” said Fleck. “In some ways we live under the radar, but at the same time we have had some amazingly large numbers of people interested in what we are doing, this album reflects that—it’s an uncompromising album. It’s serious Flecktones.”
Known for playing over 200 dates a year, the group began sessions for The Hidden Land with a statement of core principles. “We used to have a rule that everything we did had to be possible to do live with just the three of us, no additional parts laid down in the studio. We haven’t worked in that way since 1993, but it was the concept for these sessions,” said Fleck.
The songs on the album were written by the quartet with the exception of a cover of J.S. Bach’s “Bach Fugue.” Other notable highlights include “Kaleiloscope,” “P’lod,” “Who’s Got Three,” “Labyrinth” and “Chennai.”
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…
