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…
Tierney Sutton, right, and Serge Merlaud.
(Photo: Courtesy Tierney Sutton)Vocalist Tierney Sutton has released a beautiful new ballad, “I Knew I Loved You.” It’s the first single from Paris Sessions II, Sutton’s new album due out this spring. Written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Ennio Morricone, it is a nearly forgotten chestnut featuring Sutton’s silky vocals with guitarist Serge Merlaud and NEA Jazz Master flutist Hubert Laws.
“No two words evoke musical romance more than ‘Morricone’ and ‘Bergman,’” Sutton said. “This track marries two of Ennio Morricone’s best-loved themes. The first, from Cinema Paradiso, has been widely recorded. The second, ‘Deborah’s Theme’ from 1984’s Once Upon A Time In America, is also widely beloved, yet the song based on the theme, created at the request of Quincy Jones, has been inexplicably overlooked.”
You can now hear, and view, the song 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…
“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…
“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,…
Each of the 25 JAMs has delivered a poster featuring a jazz legend that is sent out to schools across the nation. This year’s poster features Tony Bennett.
Mar 30, 2026 10:20 PM
Every April for the past quarter century, something remarkable has happened across the United States and far beyond.…
