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…
Chicago percussionist and bandleader Kahil El’Zabar has a pair of recordings slated for release on Spiritmuse, a new UK imprint.
(Photo: Courtesy Spiritmuse)It’s a unique opportunity to bring these four musicians together under the idea of the science of the groove. It’s not just some sentimental statement. There’s a lot of knowledge that goes into the fervor of building a sound in a groove-based music. Ornette [Coleman] found [bassist] Jamaladeen Tacuma in his youth to be a very exciting player, because he had a natural sense of blending harmonic distinctions along with being able to hold a line, hold a pattern, hold a groove. He was a great foil for the later Ornette Coleman sound, because of his own harmolodic sensibilities. [Saxophonist] Gary Bartz is a master at subtle impact, but he’s got so much knowledge of the instrument from Bird licks to Ornette licks to his own style and his relationship with Pharoah [Sanders] over the years. And [pianist] Robert Irving III has those natural proclivities for composition. That’s what Miles [Davis] saw. The voicings that Bobby had developed and can creatively come up with gave Miles a new kind of sound with his instrument. It made Miles sound better, same thing with Nancy Wilson, Wayne Shorter—so many other people. He worked with me over the years in small ensembles and the large Orchestra Infinity. In a small group with him, you’re always going to get voicings, harmonic sensibilities that’s just going to expand the group.
While you receive so much acclaim in Europe, you’ve stayed rooted in Chicago. What do you see as the city’s importance, especially now?
The 1920s are known as the Jazz Age, accepted worldwide. It started in New Orleans, but it grew up in Chicago. When those musicians went to Europe, it changed the 20th century forever. They brought in a spontaneity, a newness that was considered modernity. Now, with 2020 coming, everyone’s looking at a collective urban sensibility that goes from Nigeria to the suburbs of Paris to São Paulo to Taiwan to Chicago. The idea that with technology and communication across the planet, music and art has become a conduit to humanity, that with all of our diverseness, there’s still some uncommon elements that we can trust in in a real, substantive way.
At the beginning of 20th century, the music of Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Daniel Burnham’s city plan became influential models, globally. Now, with Chicago being one of the largest fresh water basins in the world, it has developed soul, spirit, energy and become a place of enormous cultural wealth. The artists that come from that core reflect, project and give something that’s received throughout the planet now. 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…
“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…
Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be among the headliners at this year’s DC JazzFest.
Mar 2, 2026 9:48 PM
The first wave of artists scheduled to perform at the 2026 DC JazzFest have been announced. This year’s headliners…
“These days, with curated news, where people only get half the story, people can’t even speak to family members anymore,” Schneider laments.
Mar 10, 2026 1:43 PM
Maria Schneider is doing her part to try to fix what ails America. Which got her thinking about crows, specifically,…
Each of the 25 JAMs has delivered a poster featuring a jazz legend that is sent out to schools across the nation. This year’s poster features Tony Bennett.
Mar 30, 2026 10:20 PM
Every April for the past quarter century, something remarkable has happened across the United States and far beyond.…
