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…
Victor Gould experiments with new voices and longstanding collaborators on Thoughts Become Things.
(Photo: Jimmy Katz)Drummond found that she had an immediate connection with his sound and concept: “Victor’s music is both beautiful and intellectual. He is a force.”
She also instantly felt the kind of openness Gould aimed to cultivate among his collaborators.
“Though his music is conceptually very clear, Victor is open to new ideas and different energies,” Drummond said. “So, playing with him is a truly wonderful experience. He creates a comfortable atmosphere, letting players be themselves, which opens doors to real creative moments.”
Gould completes the album’s rhythm section with drummer Rodney Green and bassist Vicente Archer, the latter having recorded with Gould on some of Pelt’s projects. Gould acknowledged calling each artist—and in particular Green and Archer—because he knew they would filter his work through their own experiences and approaches to music.
“No matter what I would bring in, they kind of made it their own,” the pianist said, “customized it and made it personal.”
Before departing in early August for a 12-day tour of Japan, Gould seemed energized and eager to take his own project around the world. “[Now,] you can just jump straight on the scene and be a leader,” he said. “And it seems like the only way to gain that popularity, to get to the next level, is to be a leader.” 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…
New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp
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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…
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…
