Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
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
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome. Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his… Always a sharp dresser, Farnsworth wears a pocket square given to him by trumpeter Art Farmer. “You need to look good if you want to hang around me,” Farmer told him. Sep 23, 2025 11:12 AM When he was 12 years old, the hard-swinging veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth had a fateful encounter with his idol Max… D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop. Oct 14, 2025 1:47 PM D’Angelo, a Grammy-winning R&B and neo-soul singer, guitarist and pianist who exerted a profound influence on 21st… Kandace Springs channeled Shirley Horn’s deliberate phrasing and sublime self-accompaniment during her set at this year’s Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. Sep 30, 2025 12:28 PM Janis Burley, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival’s founder and artistic director, did not, as might be… Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe. Oct 7, 2025 3:40 PM Pianist Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation, died Sept. 26 at…
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