Jack DeJohnette

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Jack DeJohnette (2015)

Jack DeJohnette (* 9. August 1942 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American jazz - drummer and pianist .

Live and act

Jack DeJohnette took piano lessons from age four to fourteen and switched to drums in high school; his musical role model at the time was Max Roach . He studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago . In his early years in Chicago, he played across a broad musical spectrum, from rhythm and blues to free jazz . In 1966 he moved to New York and accompanied the organist John Patton as drums , worked with Jackie McLean and accompanied the singers Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln . From 1966 to 1969 he was a member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet at the side of the young Keith Jarrett , which made him internationally known. Lloyd's group was the first jazz band to play in front of a rock audience; DeJohnette traveled with her several times to Europe and the Far East. During this time he also appeared with John Coltrane , Thelonious Monk , Freddie Hubbard , Stan Getz , Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, as well as with Bill Evans (with the latter in Montreux in 1968). Since then he has been one of the most influential jazz drummers.

After he had already played in a few sessions with Miles Davis in November 1968 (for example on the tracks "Directions 1" and "2" as well as "Ascent", which later appeared on the album Directions ), he became a member of the Miles Davis group in the summer of 1969. Band, where he replaced Tony Williams and took part in the recordings for the epoch-making work Bitches Brew . In April and June 1970 he performed with Davis at Fillmore West in San Francisco and at Fillmore East in New York. DeJohnette remained - intermittently - until June 1972 (for the recording of On the Corner ) in the Davis band, when he was replaced by Al Foster . At that time he also led his own formations and played melodica , piano, clavinet and organ in addition to drums . Miroslav Vitouš also brought him to his album Infinite Search .

After leaving Miles Davis, he founded the fusion band Compost . In the 1970s, Jack DeJohnette was a much sought-after sideman in numerous ECM sessions; Starting in 1976, a number of albums under his own name were created on the Munich label, beginning with Untitled by his Directions , a quintet with guitarist John Abercrombie who accompanied him on half of the pieces for the solo album Pictures, which was released in the same year DeJohnette also plays the organ and piano. DeJohnette worked (alongside Dave Holland ) in his trio Gateway , and Abercrombie is also back in "New Directions" (1978-79), alongside Lester Bowie and Eddie Gomez . During these years DeJohnette u. a. also involved in recordings by Terje Rypdal , John Surman , Kenny Wheeler and Jan Garbarek . In 1979 Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition was created , first with David Murray and Arthur Blythe , then John Purcell and Chico Freeman on saxophones, and Peter Warren or Rufus Reid on bass , although this quartet constellation was sometimes expanded. Martin Kunzler mentions in his lexicon article the "unusual ensemble virtuosity with different stylistic material". His albums Special Edition and Album Album were voted album of the year in the Down Beat readers' poll.

With Irresistible Forces (1987) he rejuvenated his special edition with musicians who are associated with M-Base : Greg Osby , Gary Thomas , Lonnie Plaxico , and in 1990 the pianist Michael Cain , who was the guitarist Mick (who is not entirely dissimilar from Abercrombie and his age) Goodrick in formation followed. In the years that followed, Cain also took part in other DeJohnette projects in which he increasingly turned to world music and New Age . He not only played classical piano trio album one ( The Jack DeJohnette Piano Album , 1985), but also recordings alone with synthesizer and percussion, giving it a Grammy - nominated and an award for Best New Age Album of the Year ( Peacetime , 2009). With the (only) nominated Music in the Key of Om and the duo recording Music from the Hearts of the Masters with the West African Kora player Foday Musa Suso , he founded his own independent label Golden Beams Productions in 2005.

Since the early 1980s he has been the drummer of the Keith Jarrett Trio, which still exists today (with Gary Peacock on bass). In addition, the collaboration with Pat Metheny ( 80/81 and Song X with Ornette Coleman ) and the one with Michael Brecker , on whose first recording (under his own name, 1986), like the last one before his death, DeJohnette was involved ( Pilgrimage , 2007 ). He also accompanied the late Sonny Rollins on five albums from the late 1980s until 2000 .

Jack DeJohnette is an excellent improviser and follows the style of the two great drummers of the 1960s, Tony Williams and Elvin Jones , where he manages to combine elements of free jazz with the rhythm of R&B . Ian Carr counts him among the most talented drummers in modern jazz; Richard Cook and Brian Morton noted in 2001 that DeJohnette Ray Brown , Milt Hinton and Billy Higgins had overtaken the rank of most recorded jazz musician. He is also considered a profound composer; His works include " Ahmad the Terrible ", "Ebony", "Herbie's Hand Cocked", "Indigo Dreamscapes", "Irresistible Forces", "Jack In", "Lydia" and "Milton".

In 2016 Rolling Stone listed him as 40th of the 100 best drummers of all time .

Selection discography

As a leader

As a co-leader

As a sideman

Lexigraphic entries

Awards

Web links

Commons : Jack DeJohnette  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. Rolling Stone , March 31, 2016, accessed August 6, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME DeJohnette, Jack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz drummer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , United States