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…
A live Alice Coltrane recording from 1972 marks a turning point in her music.
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)Ella Fitzgerald, Ella In Rome: The Birthday Concert (1988)
Recorded in 1958 on her 41st birthday, Fitzgerald’s performance runs through a batch of standards just as she was entering a particularly verdant period of her career. Funneling “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” through Louis Armstrong was both a playful nod to the past and a profound exhibition of the bandleader’s skills as an entertainer.
Jimmy Smith, Root Down Live! (1972)
There are a lot of Jimmy Smith albums out there. And while he remains one of the most lauded organists of his—or any—generation, some of the studio dates are pretty staid. Root Down Live!, though, finds the bandleader working out what’s ostensibly a funk band, one so instantly groovy, the Beastie Boys co-opted the title track for a 1995 EP of the same name.
Joe Henderson Quintet, At The Lighthouse (1970)
The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, has hosted more than its share of notable recordings. Henderson’s group here straddles bop and a relatively sedate fusion ideal, with George Cables contributing some definitive electric keys. A front line of Henderson and trumpeter/flugelhornist Woody Shaw, though, is pretty unbeatable.
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.…
