Photo by Jeff Forman
By Stef Gijssels
Sad news about Jack DeJohnette, one of the most acclaimed and influential drummers ever. I will not go into his biography or enumerate his achievements: they are many and others have already done it better than I ever could. Suffice to say that he appears on 1154 album credits according to Discogs, and he performed with almost any jazz musician that mattered, from Bill Evans, over Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins, John Surman to Wadada Leo Smith. He was part in many of the historical junctures in jazz music, and contributed to shaping it.
Here is the story of my life with Jack DeJohnette as a musical guide.
Jack DeJohnette New Directions (ECM, 1978)
I was not yet twenty when I bought this album by mistake. I knew Abercrombie from his previous fusion album, and I loved fusion (please forgive me, I was in my teens then). When I heard this album, I was devastated to have spent my limited resources on music I did not like. So to teach myself a lesson, I punished myself to listen to it twenty times. Yet lo and behold: what I found unlistenable at the beginning, started opening up like a beautiful flower the more I listened to it. Its sense of freedom, the musicianship, its unpredictability and overall tone became even more appealing and enjoyable with each listen. I knew that this was it! This was absolutely brilliant. Today, this old vinyl is still within arm's reach. It has lost nothing of its power. Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie, Eddie Gomez ... and a bluesy and lyrical Jack DeJohnette.
John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette – Gateway (ECM, 1975)
DeJohnette also teamed up with Dave Holland and John Abercrombie on what has become "Gateway", the trio named after their first album together. In this small guitar trio format, DeJohnette's drumming plays an absolutely essential part of the music. It's a strange, mysterious and wonderfully appealing album. Abercrombie is a very unusual guitarist, yet his style matches very well with DeJohnette's unique and subtle drumming. He's a lyricist as much as the other two.
Kenny Wheeler – Gnu High (ECM, 1976)
Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler's '
Gnu High' is one of ECM's iconic albums, with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette as members of the ensemble. ECM has always had the incredible value of bringing musicians together to create music that would otherwise not have seen the light of day. This is one of those examples. “
What you hear,” says Jack DeJohnette, “
is the spontaneity of the moment.” The band is stellar and lifts Wheeler to a truly high level of music.
Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette (ECM, 1979)This album was also one of my favourites for many years. Rypdal's icey guitar pierces through the wonderful foundations laid by the other two virtuosi. Listen to the exquisite and subtle drums intro to "
Sunrise"! Its atmosphere is chilling yet deeply emotional. All three musicians are excellent, yet DeJohnette's drumming is exceptional and already his signature sound: playing around the rhythm in a loose and flexible style with lots of little touches on his cymbals. He creates a percussive atmosphere, a percussive environment, co-creating the overall sound instead of keeping the pace.
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette - Inside Out (ECM, 2011)
And then there are of course the numerous albums with Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock. This is very much Jarrett's musical concept, yet the absolutely flawless interaction and fluidity of the three artists is exceptional and not a surprise that Jarrett kept asking them again and again to perform. Not all of it is good, and I'm less a fan of their take on jazz standards, but some are truly outstanding improvised piano trios, regardless of the genre.
Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Dewey Redman, Mike Brecker – 80/81 (ECM, 1980)
I am not a Pat Metheny fan - a little too mellow to my taste - although I can appreciate this excellent album with a stellar cast of some of the luminaries in jazz. It has a great rendition of Ornette Coleman's "
Turnaround", my favourite track on the double vinyl, ending with one of the musicians (I guess Dewey Redman) shouting enthusiastically:
“Yooohoooo, boy!, Jack DeJohnette, man!” in praise of the drummer's exceptional contribution.
A reviewer on CD Universe writes: "And perhaps the highlight of the recording is the intricate yet effortless drumming of Jack DeJohnette. It stands out throughout the recordings."
When I just started with this blog so many years ago, I
reviewed this album succinctly. It is an exceptional co-created live duo recording between the British saxophonist and the American drummer. The result is an astonishing musical feast, an ode to life. It is in the most subtle moments, such as on "
Mysterium" that it is fascinating to hear how DeJohnette captures the essence of the saxophonist's sonic vision and co-creates the perfect and nuanced sound to complete it.
Wadada Leo Smith & Jack DeJohnette - America (Tzadik, 2009)
The same joy of interaction can be found on this stellar duo album with Wadada Leo Smith. Both men are at the absolute top of their skills and the interplay is stellar as can be expected. From beginning to end this music. I reviewed it then in 2009 and the full text can be read
here. I wrote it is
"An absolute "must have" for anyone interested in music." I have not changed my opinion.
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970)
And then of course there is "
Bitches Brew", on which DeJohnette is one of the drummers next to Lenny White and Charles Alias. A genuine jazz masterpiece, it breaks stylistic boundaries while highlighting DeJohnette’s extraordinary versatility and his talent for adapting his unique sound to any jazz style.
Other albums with Davis include "At Filmore" (1970), "Jack Johnson" (1971), "Live-Evil" (1971). "On The Corner" (1972) "Black Beauty" (1973), and "Big Fun" (1974).
Michael Mantler - The Hapless Child (Watt, 1976)
One more memorable album is this utterly bizarre production with "inscrutable stories" by Edward Gorey, sung by Robert Wyatt, and with the brilliant music of Michael Mantler performed by Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Jack DeJohnette and Terje Rypdal. The album defies classification. It's a kind of gothic prog rock album, with utterly dark horror stories, and hair-raising dramatic compositions and performance. No doubt one of the weirdest production ever, requiring some getting into, yet I can only suggest to keep listening, and preferably repeatedly. It's different, yet again, with DeJohnette adding a lot to the overall sound.
Amidst all this fantastic and creative work, Jack DeJohnette also participated in the Blues Brothers movie, also not taking himself too seriously as the drummer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, an all-star bluesband with B.B.King, Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Steve Winwood and many more, performing "How Blue Can You Get".
We will miss him dearly but his art is here to stay and to be cherished forever.
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