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…
Pianist Ramsey Lewis sets five streaming dates ahead of his 85th birthday.
(Photo: ramseylewis.com)Chicago-bred pianist Ramsey Lewis, who recently took to streaming in order to help raise funds for MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, is planning a series of remote live performances to mark his upcoming 85th birthday on May 27.
The monthly “Saturday Salon” streams are set to run at 1 p.m. CST May 30, June 27, July 25, Aug. 29 and Sept. 26. Viewing the 50-minute solo performances on the Stageit platform will cost $20. A portion of the funds raised from each stream will be donated to Jazz Foundation of America, according to a press release.
“I have played all over the world, but not really,” the NEA Jazz Master, who retired from the road in 2018, said in the release. “I’ve played most of the major cities, but not every city in between, and it’s exciting to know that this will be available to every person in the world. And that thought in my mind excites me and makes me want to perform again.” 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…
Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall
Feb 17, 2026 11:05 AM
They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston’s highly prestigious College of…
“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…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
Feb 19, 2026 10:39 AM
Jazz camps have exploded around the globe as a summertime tradition for working on your chops and making new friends.…
Lovers of the big band experience, clockwise from top left, John Clayton, Leigh Pilzer, Ted Nash, David Pietro and Christine Jensen.
Feb 10, 2026 11:00 AM
The popularity of big band music might have peaked in the 1930s and ’40s, but despite the many changes on the jazz…
