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…
On Aug. 23, a Charlie Parker-Dizzy Gillespie concert recorded June 22, 1945, at New York’s Town Hall will be released on Uptown Records. The six-song set, which features “Bebop,” “A Night In Tunesia,” “Groovin’ High,” “Salt Peanuts,” “Hot House” and “Fift Second Street Theme,” has never been issued.
Joining Parker and Gillespie on stage are tenor saxophonist Don Byas on “Bebop,” Al Haig on piano, Max Roach on drums (replaced by Sid Catlett on “Hot House” and “Fifty Second Street Theme”). Symphony Sid Torin emcees the evening.
The high-quality recording was discovered by Uptown Records owner Robert Sunnenblick, and the story of the set’s discovery is related in a 30-page booklet accompanying the set.
Dizzy Gillespie-Charlie Parker: Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 will be released on Aug. 23.
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…
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