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 Beats & Pieces Big Band is set to play the European Jazz Meeting showcase at jazzahead!
(Photo: Emile Holba)As a part of jazzahead!, a Bremen, Germany, festival, 16 acts will be showcased April 20 as part of the European Jazz Meeting.
Amid the 12-year-old festival’s programming and exhibitors, a series of jury-selected concerts will highlight the continent’s established and blossoming jazz talent. For the European Jazz Meeting, which had 335 acts vying for those slots, a healthy range across jazz sub-genres should be represented.
Part of what made the selection process difficult was the 17.5-percent increase in submissions compared with 2017.
“This year, the many high-quality applicants also included surprisingly many large acts—not only big bands but also even symphony orchestras,” said Peter Schulze, a jury member and one of jazzahead!’s artistic directors. “The Beats & Pieces Big Band from the UK stand for a strong British presence this year. A wide range of styles is represented from elegiac melodic jazz from Iceland and robust improvisations from Belgium and Finland to driving groove jazz from Switzerland.”
Among the scheduled performers is a trio comprising saxophonist Manuel Hermia, cellist Valentin Ceccaldi and drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq, as well as the Einar Scheving Quartet and Pauli Lyytinen Magnetia Orkesteri.
The festival is scheduled to run April 6-22. For more information about jazzahead!, visit the festival’s website. 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…
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…
Lovers of the big band experience, clockwise from top left, John Clayton, Leigh Pilzer, Ted Nash, David Pietro and Christine Jensen.
Feb 10, 2026 11:00 AM
The popularity of big band music might have peaked in the 1930s and ’40s, but despite the many changes on the jazz…
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.…
Sullivan Fortner continues a winning streak with his third Grammy for Jazz Album of the Year after earning the Gilmore Larry J. Bell Artist Award last October.
Feb 10, 2026 10:48 AM
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards presented a marathon of winners, tributes and music on Feb. 1. Kendrick Lamar added five…
