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…
Bobby Sanabria leading the Manhattan School of Music’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra through a live take on Machito’s Kenya album has been released as Kenya Revisited “Live” (Jazzheads).
Originally recorded in December of 1957 by The Machito Afro-Cubans and released in 1958 (featuring Cannonball Adderley, as well as trumpeter Joe Neumann, and percussionist Candido Camero) Kenya had never been performed in its entirety. Under Sanabria’s direction, the entire repertoire of the Kenya album has been updated with new arrangements and performed by the Manhattan School’s orchestra. Camero, now an NEA Jazz Master, joined the orchestra on this recording.
This recording also marks the first release in a series of four collaborations between The Manhattan School of Music and Jazzheads Records. Scheduled for release in the coming months are three Manhattan School of Music interpretations of Miles Davis’ Porgy & Bess , Sketches Of Spain and Miles Ahead. All three of upcoming recordings will feature saxophonist Dave Liebman with the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra conducted by Justin DiCioccio. Jazzheads Records will donate proceeds from the sales of these discs to the Manhattan School of Music Fund-Jazz Arts Program.
More info: msmnyc.edu
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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