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…
Guitarist Jim Hall has released a new disc of duets with pianist Geoff Keezer, Free Association (ArtistShare). The CD is being released exclusively through Hall’s Web site, jimhallmusic.com.
Hall and Keezer have collaborated since the mid 1990s. Along with the pianist’s appearance on the guitarist’s disc, Panorama (Telarc), they have frequently performed together in New York, Europe, and Japan. Free Association includes two spontaneously improvised pieces, a Japanese ballad, and four of Hall’s original compositions.
As Hall was planning to celebrate his 75th birthday at New York’s Village Vanguard on December 4, he had high praise for his partner on the new disc.
“Keezer has an incredible sense of swing, listens well, and reacts uniquely,” Hall said. “He’s an outstanding improviser.”
The younger musician is just as enthusiastic about working with Hall.
“It’s a great process for me to go through,” Keezer said. “It makes me realize just how much more space I can actually leave and still be there, and still be making music. But not in any kind of way I’ve ever known.”
Along with Free Association (Hall’s second ArtistShare project), his Web site will include downloadable musical sketches of songs, pictures, interviews, and other recorded selections.
“ArtistShare participants can sign up long after the recording was completed and still have access to the process,” ArtistShare owner Brian Camello said. “Most ArtistShare artists continue to add content after the main work is done and Jim is no exception.”
Details: www.jimhallmusic.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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