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…
Billy Childs will release a new album for Mack Avenue Records on March 24.
(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)Mack Avenue Records has announced the addition of three major artists to its roster: keyboardist Cameron Graves, organist Joey DeFrancesco and composer/pianist Billy Childs, each of whom is scheduled to release an album in early 2017.
Graves—West Coast Get Down founding member and frequent Kamasi Washington collaborator—will launch his anticipated debut album, Planetary Prince, with Mack Avenue Records on Feb. 24. The album, an expansion of a four-song EP, features numerous West Coast Get Down regulars, including saxophonist Washington, trumpeter Philip Dizack, trombonist Ryan Porter, bassist Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, bassist Hadrien Feraud and drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr.
Organist Joey DeFrancesco, who also plays trumpet and sings, will debut his first-ever quartet, Joey DeFrancesco & The People, with the release of Project Freedom on March 10. The new ensemble features guitarist Dan Wilson, saxophonist Troy Roberts and drummer Jason Brown. A tour in support of the album is planned.
Four-time Grammy Award winner Billy Childs returns to his jazz roots with the March 24 release of Rebirth. Joined by saxophonist Steve Wilson, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Eric Harland—along with guests such as vocalists Alicia Olatuja and Claudia Acuna, trombonist Ido Meshulam and percussionist Rogerio Boccato—the album serves as a career retrospective and marks the 40th anniversary of Childs’ recording debut with trombone legend J.J. Johnson.
In April 2016 Mack Avenue Records acquired the St. Louis-based jazz imprint MAXJAZZ, expanding its roster to include such notable musicians as Mulgrew Miller, René Marie, Russell Malone and Geoffrey Keezer. For more information on the label’s website. 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.”
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Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall
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They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston’s highly prestigious College of…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
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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…
