Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
Hyde Park Jazz Fest on Chicago’s South Side to Present 20th Edition
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
Jef Lee Johnson (Photo: Shawn Jones, myspace.com/jefleejohnson)
(Photo: )During a prolific career that began when he was a teenager, the Philadelphia native worked with a diverse array of artists from many genres, including Erykah Badu, Stanley Clarke, the Rev. James Cleveland, Common, D’Angelo, George Duke, Aretha Franklin, Nicole Henry, Phyllis Hyman, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass, The Roots, Paul Shaffer, Esperanza Spalding and McCoy Tyner.
Johnson’s solo debut as a leader was 1995’s Blue. Other titles in his discography include Communion, The Singularity, Hype Factory and Thisness. The guitarist collaborated with producer Aaron Levinson on the 2008 tribute album Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson.
On Jan. 29, drummer/producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots posted a Twitter message that read, in part: “Jef Lee Johnson, you will be missed. You were such a magical musician & gentle human being.”
To make a donation to the Jef Lee Johnson Scholarship Fund, contact the Development Office of the Settlement Music School, Mary Louise Curtis Branch, in Philadelphia.
Samples of Johnson’s music are posted at the artist’s MySpace website.
—Bobby Reed
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of Saint…
Kurt Elling, Katherine Russell and Emmet Cohen (host on the 2027 Jazz Cruise) share a laugh at sea.
Sep 8, 2026 11:52 AM
It began in 2001. A travel agent named Anita E. Berry had been booking clients on “partial” jazz cruises that took…
Sep 17, 2026 11:00 AM
The 2027 DownBeat College Guide is an invaluable resource for music students, especially jazz students, to find a school…
