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 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s Tom Dent Congo Square lecture series will begin its 2008 season on March 4 with Joshua Clark, who will read from his memoir, Heart Like Water: Surviving Katrina And Life In It’s Disaster Zone.
The event is free and open to the public.
Heart Like Water is a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle award. Clark will read from and discuss his work, including the oral histories, interviews and anecdotes that run though his narrative of the storm and its ten-week aftermath. He will also discuss what is happening now with the people featured in the book, and what they can teach us about the future.
Future events in the series include:
April 1: Tom Sancton will read from Song For My Fathers, his book about growing up with and learning to play music from the jazz elders at Preservation Hall.
May 13: Dr. Michael White will present “Teaching Kids Life Lessons Through Jazz.” A performance featuring White and the Hot 8 Brass Band will follow.
More info: jazzandheritage.org
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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