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…
Drummer and jazz educator Charli Persip (1931–2020)
(Photo: GoFundMe)Drummer Charli Persip, who enjoyed a long career as a drummer and jazz educator, died Aug. 23 at the age of 91, according to WBGO.
Persip worked frequently in bop ensembles helmed by folks like Dizzy Gillespie and Lee Morgan, while also contributing to recordings by Ron Carter, Gil Evans, Benny Golson and Quincy Jones, among others. The drummer also led a big band, Supersound, and taught at The New School in New York City. He authored How Not to Play the Drums: Not for Drummers Only.
In July 2018, friends and supports set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Persip’s medical expenses. Among those who contributed was drummer Eliot Zigmund, who wrote in a 2019 post: “Charlie’s a national hero and an important link to the golden age of jazz in America.”
Charles Lawrence Persip was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on July 26, 1929. On many albums, his first name is spelled Charlie, but he later changed the spelling to Charli. 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…
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“These days, with curated news, where people only get half the story, people can’t even speak to family members anymore,” Schneider laments.
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