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…
Marian McPartland’s popular National Public Radio program, “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz,” will celebrate its 30th year on the air in 2009. In celebration, McPartland will perform the New York debut of her first symphonic work, “A Portrait Of Rachel Carson,” with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Auldon Clark on Jan. 22 at the Trinity Wall Street Church. The concert will be free and open to the public.
McPartland composed “A Portrait Of Rachel Carson” at age 89, in honor of the influential environmentalist author of Silent Spring, which helped launch the modern conservation movement. She premiered the piece in November of 2007 with the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra as part of a special program conducted by Dr. Donald Portnoy.
Heard by more than a quarter million listeners on NPR each week, “Piano Jazz” is one of the longest-running jazz programs on NPR. The show features McPartland’s encyclopedic knowledge of the jazz repertoire and her ability to adapt on-the-fly to the many styles and personalities of “Piano Jazz”‘s more than 500 guests.
More info: trinitywallstreet.org
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,…
