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 harmonica ace Little Arthur Duncan died Aug. 20 at Kindred Hospital in Northlake, Ill. He was 74.
Born Feb. 5, 1934, in Indianola, Miss., Arthur moved to Chicago at age 16, where he heard and befriended Little Walter, who inspired him to take up the harmonica. While holding down a construction day job, he began performing around Chicago with John Brim, Floyd Jones, and Hip Lankchan. He would later own and operate the Artesia Lounge on Lake Street, which moved to West Madison Street and reopened as Backscratcher’s Social Club. Owning a club gave Arthur a regular place to perform, and he became a popular neighborhood attraction on the West Side. Twist Turner produced some of Arthur’s first recordings, which appeared first on cassette and then on Cannonball Records’ Blues Across America series.
As Arthur’s stature grew in Chicago, he recorded more, cutting two CDs for Delmark (Singin’ With The Sun and Live At Rosa’s Blues Lounge
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… 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… “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,…
In other news... DownBeat's Most Read Stories
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
Flea Finds His Jazz Thing
DC JazzFest Releases Initial Slate of 2026 Headliners
Blindfold Test: Nicole Zuraitis
Maria Schneider Asks Us to Listen to Each Other
