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…
Fred Hersch reflects on duos he’s played in over the years for a series of singles that the pianist is calling Fred Hersch & Friends.
(Photo: Steve J. Sherman)The search for and desire to find love drives most of humanity. And pianist Fred Hersch, working with vocalist Sara Gazarek, aims to impart that resonant necessity through collaboration.
This pastiche of a poem and standard—“Dreams/Darn That Dream”—premieres below. It was recorded at the Mondavi Center in Davis, California, last year and sets the pair in a series of sensitive responses to one another. The tune comes as part of Fred Hersch & Friends, a clutch of singles that finds Hersch re-examining his past work in duo settings. In a similar reappraisal, the pianist last year issued 10 Years/6 Discs, a box set documenting his enduring trio.
“This was my first time playing with Sara Gazarek,” Hersch wrote about the song hin a press release. “I was familiar with her from her recordings, and the buzz about her has been very strong lately. ... She possesses an ability to be spontaneous, is a first-rate musician and is deeply connected to any lyric she sings. The introduction, ‘Dreams,’ is a freely improvised take on a poem by Sara Teasdale—and it connects seamlessly into the standard ‘Darn That Dream.’ The vibe is magic, and her performance is deep.” 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…
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…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
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Jazz camps have exploded around the globe as a summertime tradition for working on your chops and making new friends.…
Sullivan Fortner continues a winning streak with his third Grammy for Jazz Album of the Year after earning the Gilmore Larry J. Bell Artist Award last October.
Feb 10, 2026 10:48 AM
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards presented a marathon of winners, tributes and music on Feb. 1. Kendrick Lamar added five…
