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…
Henry Threadgill has been honored with a Lifetime Achivement in Jazz award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
(Photo: Nhumi Threadgill)Henry Threadgill, Kamasi Washington, Maria Schneider and DownBeat are among the honorees for the 20th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards.
The awards for Threadgill (Lifetime Achivement in Jazz) and other artists were announced in May. Schneider, an acclaimed bandleader and Grammy winner, picked up five awards, topping the categories for Record of the Year (The Thompson Fields), Musician of the Year, Composer of the Year, Arranger of the Year and Large Ensemble of the Year (Maria Schneider Orchestra).
Washington—the tenor saxophonist whose album The Epic (Brainfeeder) was one of the most talked-about albums of 2015—was honored as Up And Coming Artist of the Year.
Among the other previously announced honorees for musical achievement, Wadada Leo Smith was named Trumpeter of the Year, and Jane Ira Bloom was named Soprano Saxophonist of the Year.
On June 15 at the Blue Note club in New York City, the JJA presented the Jazz Awards for Journalism and Media. DownBeat was named the inaugural winner of the category Jazz Periodical of the Year (a new category that combines the previous categories Jazz Publication of the Year and Jazz Website of the Year).
Ted Panken, a longtime contributor to DownBeat, was honored with the award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism.
To see a complete list of winners, visit the JJA website. 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…
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…
“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,…
