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…
Blues singer and Alligator recording artist Shemekia Copeland, who recently picked up her 4th W.C. Handy Blues Award (for Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year), is currently finishing work on a follow-up to her Grammy-nominated CD, Wicked. The as-yet-untitled album is being recorded in New York and produced by Dr. John, and will be released in mid-September of this year. Copeland, along with songwriter John Hahn, shares some of the writing credits on the album. Dr. John also contributed songs, plays piano and sings a duet with Copeland. The album features members of both Dr. John’s and Shemekia’s touring bands.
On June 1, Copeland headlined the Chicago Blues Festival, singing in front of 100,000 ecstatic blues fans. At one point, Copeland stepped away from the microphone to sing the final verse of her father’s (the late Johnny Clyde Copeland) “Ghetto Child,” her voice carrying, unamplified, to the far reaches of the outdoor venue.
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.…
Blindfold Test proctor Ted Panken, left, with the Grammy-winning Nicole Zuraitis.
Feb 24, 2026 12:00 PM
After earning the 2024 Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy for her seventh album, How Love Begins (La Reserve), comprising 12…
