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…
On Feb. 26, two new ECM albums are set to hit the street: John Abercrombie’s Cat ‘N’ Mouse and Invisible Nature: Live In Tampere And Berlin by John Surman and Jack DeJohnette.
Cat ‘N’ Mouse features Abercrombie on guitar, Mark Feldman on violin, Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums. Feldman had previously worked with Abercrombie, and the idea for the new ensemble, recorded in December 2000 in New York, was to “continue the relationship with Feldman and develop a music that was still more open-sounding,” Abercrombie said. Keyboards were abandoned for the recording, with an emphasis placed on strings.
Invisible Nature was recorded live at the Berlin Jazz Festival and the Tampere Jazz Happening in November 2000. It’s the follow-up to The Amazing Adventures Of Simon Simon, the 1981 debut by the Surman-DeJohnette duo. The musical relationship between the two men goes back further, however. In 1968, when DeJohnette was in London with the Bill Evans Trio at Ronnie Scott’s Club, he took time out to improvise with local musicians. “Jack instigated a jam session series in the afternoon, and the word got out,” Surman said. “So I was there, along with John McLaughlin, Dave Holland and Tony Oxley.”
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…
