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…
Joel Dorn, a Grammy Award-winning record producer who first made a name for himself while at Atlantic Records in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, died on Monday from a heart attack in New York City at the age of 65.
Dorn’s discography stretches from the multiplatinum soul sounds of Roberta Flack to the jazz of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He helped introduce Bette Midler and the funky New Orleans r&b of the Neville Brothers. His name can be found on the back of recordings by Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Mose Allison, Yusef Lateef, Leon Redbone, Peter Allen, Don Mclean, the Allman Brothers Band, David “Fathead” Newman, Donny Hathaway and Mongo Santamaria.
From an early age, Dorn knew he wanted to be in the music business, specifically for Atlantic Records. At 14, he began correspondence with the label’s co-founder Nesuhi Ertegun.
In 1961, Dorn began his career as a disc jockey at the Philadelphia jazz radio station WHAT-FM.
Ertegun offered Dorn the chance to produce one record by an artist of his choice for Atlantic Jazz in 1963. Dorn chose Hubert Laws, a young flutist he had seen in Philly performing with Santamaria’s band. The resulting album, The Laws Of Jazz, would become the first of many production credits to follow.
When Rhino began to reissue the Atlantic jazz catalog in 1993, Dorn spearheaded the campaign, producing and annotating nearly two dozen titles. In addition to his work for Atlantic and Rhino, Dorn released archival recordings on his own labels Night, M, and 32 Records (including the Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon compilations).
At the time of his death, Dorn was completing a five CD box set for Rhino Handmade entitled Homage A Nesuhi, serving as a tribute to his mentor Ertegun and their years together at Atlantic. He was also the voice of Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Pure Jazz” channel.
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…
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…
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.…
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…
