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…
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble has announced that it will kick off its sixth American Heritage Jazz Series on Feb. 13 at the Field Museum with a blues concert featuring guitarist Lonnie Brooks. This year’s celebration “The Roots of Chicago Jazz” features four programs representing the evolution of jazz in Chicago.
This will be the Chicago Jazz Ensemble’s first series with trumpeter Jon Faddis as its artistic director. The group was founded in 1965 by the late composer Will Russo as a professional jazz orchestras in residence at Columbia College Chicago.
The completer series is as follows:
Feb. 13: A special Jazz and Blues Concert, featuring Lonnie Brooks
Field Museum of Chicago, James R. Simpson Theater
2 p.m.
March 19: The Great Chicago Tenor Saxes, featuring Johnny Griffin, Ira Sullivan, Von Freeman, Franz Jackson and Eric Alexander
The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium
8 p.m.
April 8: CJE Shares the Stage with the International Association for Jazz Education
Field Museum of Chicago, James R. Simpson Theater
8 p.m.
May 7 and May 8: Guest conductor is Gerald Wilson
Field Museum of Chicago, James R. Simpson Theater
For more information, go to www.chijazz.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…
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