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 Fred Hersch is using Patreon, a donation-based platform, to roll out a new concert series.
(Photo: Jim Wilkie)Pianist Fred Hersch has remained busy, despite the pandemic.
In March, he made sure fans knew The Ballad of Fred Hersch was streaming on Vimeo, even as he continued issuing digital singles and embarked on streaming performances via Facebook.
“The response to the livestream has been overwhelming and very touching,” he said in a press release. “I have gotten comments from around the world from thousands of people who tell me that tuning in brightens their day. But I, and all of my musician friends, have begun to realize that it may be up to a year or more before people are comfortable sitting in a jazz club or a concert hall.”
Now, Hersch is using Patreon to post weekly themed concerts, the first planned for May 11, which is set to focus on the work of Cole Porter. Subsequent iterations will include three-song sets drawn from the pianist’s 2001 Songs Without Words, the compositions of Thelonious Monk and Antônio Carlos Jobim, and songs with the word “spring” in the title. Membership, which is necessary to view the concerts, can be purchased for $5 or $20 and come with different perks.
Additional information can be found here. 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…
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