Jackeyboard Jack Dejohnette

Drummer Jack DeJohnette's debut as a leader (which has been reissued on CD) has quite a bit of variety. The music ranges from advanced swinging to brief free improvisations and some avant-funk. DeJohnette (who doubles on melodica) is joined by Bennie Maupin (on tenor and flute), keyboardist Stanley Cowell, bassists Miroslav Vitous and Eddie Gomez, and drummer Roy Haynes. He uses six different combinations of musicians on the eight songs (five of his originals, John Coltrane's "Miles' Mode," Cowell's "Equipoise" and Vitous' "Mirror Image"). Intriguing and generally successful music.

Bruce Hornsby, Christian McBride, Jack DeJohnette - Camp Meeting (2007) {Legacy 88697 09663 2}
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© 2007 Legacy / Sony BMG Music | 88697 09663 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / Bass / Drums

Those looking for the mellow adult contemporary rock of Bruce Hornsby's 1980s hits, be aware that Camp Meeting is a straight-up contemporary jazz album, a piano trio set with bassist Christian McBride and legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette. Hornsby, a jazz pianist since his college days who fell into pop almost by accident, shows the influence of past masters like Bill Evans in his refined, restrained playing, and McBride and DeJohnette provide sure, able support. Split between originals and standards by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and Keith Jarrett, Camp Meeting is a solid piano jazz set.

Jack DeJohnette has long been more than "just" a drummer; he is also a fine keyboardist and a very talented composer. This CD finds him exploring music ranging from American Indian melodies to rockish fusion and his tribute "Miles." His group includes powerhouse guitarists Vernon Reid and John Scofield along with a chanting vocal choir. The music is stimulating if not as essential as DeJohnette's earlier work with Special Edition.

This album was a surprise when it was released for it features drummer Jack DeJohnette exclusively on piano and synthesizer in a trio with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Freddie Waits. DeJohnette on a couple of the tunes was among the very first pianists to really capture the sound of Thelonious Monk. Other selections are more in his own style and he displays a strong technique that does not sound like the work of a drummer who is moonlighting.

Jack DeJohnette - Made In Chicago (2015) {ECM 2392}
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© 2015 ECM Records | ECM 2392
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Drums

With Made In Chicago, an exhilarating live album, Jack DeJohnette celebrates a reunion with old friends. In 1962, DeJohnette, Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill were all classmates at Wilson Junior College on Chicago’s Southside, pooling energies and enthusiasms in jam sessions. Shortly thereafter Jack joined Muhal Richard Abrams’ Experimental Band, and Roscoe and Henry soon followed him. When Abrams cofounded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1965, DeJohnette, Mitchell and Threadgill were all deeply involved, presenting concerts and contributing to each other’s work under the AACM umbrella.

An otherworldly soundscape of aching beauty, this album is a must-have for aficionados of any member of this trio. Rypdal's guitar is hauntingly reverbed and distant throughout, though occasionally on "Seasons" he becomes too fond of caterwauling guitar synth. But this is truly an effort of trio fusion, with ineffable pieces like "Den Forste Sne" ( "The First Snow" ) appearing and melting away without any tangible solos or structure. From the opening cymbal strikes of "Sunrise," this album is marked by DeJohnette's best drumming on record; his cymbal sound, pushed to the front and recorded with mikes both above and below the cymbal's bell – "because that's how the drummer hears it" – is nothing short of revelatory. Vitous' bass steadies Rypdal's flights of fancy, while his subtle electric piano lines float above.

The “Somewhere” in which the ‘Standards’ trio find themselves is Lucerne, Switzerland with a performance both exploratory and in-the-tradition. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung headlined its review of the show “kontrollierte Ekstase” – controlled ecstasy – an apt metaphor for a set that begins in improvisational “Deep Space” modulates into Miles Davis’ “Solar”, soars through the standards “Stars Fell On Alabama” and “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” and climaxes with an extended romp through West Side Story, as Bernstein’s “Somewhere” and “Tonight” are bridged by the freely associative Jarrett original “Everywhere”.

The final version of drummer/composer Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition bands sports a unique sound, on the verge of M-Base, and artfully driven due to saxophonists Greg Osby and Gary Thomas. Their tart sweet sounds are as much a part of the identity of this group as anything, and DeJohnette adds his own personal brand of funk and swing to the proceeding, making for an exciting and vital original music. Bassist Lonnie Plaxico, straight off the bandstand with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, keeps things briskly moving along, while Michael Cain plays a lot of acoustic piano, and some modified electric keyboards, to further separate this Special Edition from the others.

A really wonderful early album from drummer Jack DeJohnette – maybe his most obscure record from the time, and maybe one of his best as well! The album's got a very open, spiritual sort of vibe – out one minute, and more soulful the next – as Jack stretches out on drums with a very cool quartet that includes lots of sweet reeds from Bennie Maupin – who plays tenor, bass clarinet, and flute – plus bass from Gary Peacock, and both acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes from Hideo Ichikawa. Tracks are quite long, and very open – handled with the greater freedoms that Columbia Japan was offering musicians at the time – including Peacock.

Jack DeJohnette - Extra Special Edition (1994) {Blue Note Records CDP 7243 8 30494 2 4}
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© 1994 Blue Note Records | CDP 7243 8 30494 2 4
Jazz / Post Bop / Drums

The addition of Bobby McFerrin to drummer Jack DeJohnette's group should have been a definite plus; the singer can do so much with his voice, from substituting for a string bass to using his falsetto like a horn. This program of mostly originals, however, not only lacks more than one or two strong melodies, but also fails to have real development, particularly on the selections that include McFerrin. Performances often start in what could just as well be the middle and end inconclusively, with many of the pieces being little more than funky riffs for the rhythm section. Despite a few strong moments (mostly from pianist Michael Cain), only "Seventh D" and "Summertime" (both instrumentals) are worth hearing a second time.