mrjazzman Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 (edited) I'm having trouble justifying why D.J. is #4 on my list of drummers behind T. Williams, M. Roach and A. Blakey On which cd's will I find J. D's most bopish drumming as leader or sideman? Oops, I should have said #5 because I forgot E. Jones. I must be getting old. LOL paul secor, I'm afraid I would have to agree with that. I must have heard something years ago that put him in my group Edited January 27, 2016 by mrjazzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 It's his non-boppish drumming I most cherish, such as that on Miles Davis "Live/Evil." I would put him about four on my list as well, behind Williams, Jones and Clarke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 No offense meant to Mr. DeJohnnette - he's a fine drummer and his ECM recording was one of my favorites of the past year - but if I really sat down and thought about it, he probably wouldn't make my list of top 25 favorite drummers. And nothing wrong with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 5 hours ago, jazzbo said: It's his non-boppish drumming I most cherish, such as that on Miles Davis "Live/Evil." I would put him about four on my list as well, behind Williams, Jones and Clarke. I agree. He's a fine straight-ahead drummer, but his strength lies in various post-bop styles. One of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milestones Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I would say he is likely in the top 5 drummers ever, and probably the best living drummer. However, to some extent I do factor in his skills as composer and band leader. I'm never disappointed in DeJohnette. So much good stuff, but two records that quickly come to mind are Special Edition (with Blythe and Murray) and Parallel Realities (with Metheny and Hancock). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'm a big fan of JdJ, too. You almost need to see him live to really appreciate his skill set and subtlety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I have seen the following live: Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Louis Bellson, Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell, Andrew Cyrille. I would put Jack DeJohnette up there with any of them. He would be tied for #1 as far as I am concerned. He is not a boppish drummer. That is not what he does. I love his drumming on his albums Special Edition, New Directions, Untitled, Inflation Blues, and Album Album, and on McCoy Tyner's Super Trios, Timeless (with John Abercrombie), Pat Metheny's 80/81, and many more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Reynolds Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 As great as Jack is, it is quite presumptuous to consider him the greatest living drummer, jazz or otherwise. I've seen at least 5 drummers over the last year or so that I would consider as great or greater to my ears as DeJohnette. Seems to me so many hear really are not listening to what drummers are playing today. I know two weeks ago I again experienced Billy Mintz & Randy Peterson together in an awe-inspiring ensemble and I'm wondering if any of the above has listened to either of them. Two incredible musical drummers who qualify as brilliant for vastly different reasons. plus I haven't yet seen Louis Moholo-Moholo and he is still living and breathing. Again nothing against anyone, but have you listened to the legendary South African, Milestones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milestones Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 "Greatest living" anything is presumptuous--that is true. But I'm going by what I've seen/heard in concert and what I have heard on record, which is pretty narrow next to your experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 Obviously the rankings of ANYTHING as "best," "greatest" or 'whatever' is completely subjective. I rarely read or pay any attention to those lists for not other reason than I rarely agree with any of them. For that matter, my own personal 'best ofs' are constantly changing, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HutchFan Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 DeJohnette is one of my personal favorites. I think he's a wonderful musician and he's made MANY great records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milestones Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I have to second DeJohnette on the record 80/81--amazing and very exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 I love his powerful drumming on the live dates with Miles from 1969 on, and several other occasions. But it´s my fault, I´m not an ECM - man, it´s not my kinda music. So I enjoy more his really powerful outputs, especially because he´s a non boppish drummer, I love bop, but very much the stuff beyond...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 1 hour ago, Gheorghe said: I love his powerful drumming on the live dates with Miles from 1969 on, and several other occasions. But it´s my fault, I´m not an ECM - man, it´s not my kinda music. So I enjoy more his really powerful outputs, especially because he´s a non boppish drummer, I love bop, but very much the stuff beyond...... Believe the initial "Special Edition" release in 1980 with Murray and Blythe is exczellent.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 Yes, SPECIAL EDITION is an exceptionally good record. (And the other 3 SE albums on ECM are nothing to sneeze at either.) Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 4 hours ago, Gheorghe said: I love his powerful drumming on the live dates with Miles from 1969 on, and several other occasions. But it´s my fault, I´m not an ECM - man, it´s not my kinda music. So I enjoy more his really powerful outputs, especially because he´s a non boppish drummer, I love bop, but very much the stuff beyond...... Jack's ECM albums from "Untitled" through "Album Album" do not have the classic ECM sound to them. That was an era when ECM was releasing albums by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Lester Bowie, and other artists far removed from its initial (and current) typical style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l p Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) The 1978-1982 dejohnette as-leader shows are quite excellent. He seems to have been a good/strong leader. Usually with cello/bass (peter warren), alto sax (blythe or purcell), tenor sax/bass clarinet (chico freeman or david murray), sometimes guitar (abercrombie), and jack on drums and piano. public theatre, nyc 3-18-78 cambridge, ma 4-10-79 chicago 4-6-80 baltimore 5-4-80 willisau, switz. 8-29-80 edmonton, alberta, can. 1980 santa monica 10-31-81 moers, ger. 5-30-82 hamburg 6-4-82 ljubljana, yugoslavia 6-18-82 nurnberg, ger. 1982 Tunes usually played: One for Eric Zoot Suite Central Park West India (Coltrane) Tin Can Alley Pastel Rhapsody Riff Raff Edited January 28, 2016 by l p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 34 minutes ago, l p said: The 1978-1982 dejohnette as-leader shows are quite excellent. He seems to have been a good/strong leader. Usually with cello/bass (peter warren), alto sax (blythe or purcell), tenor sax/bass clarinet (chico freeman or david murray), sometimes guitar (abercrombie), and jack on drums and piano. public theatre, nyc 3-18-78 cambridge, ma 4-10-79 chicago 4-6-80 baltimore 5-4-80 willisau, switz. 8-29-80 edmonton, alberta, can. 1980 santa monica 10-31-81 moers, ger. 5-30-82 hamburg 6-4-82 ljubljana, yugoslavia 6-18-82 nurnberg, ger. 1982 Tunes usually played: One for Eric Zoot Suite Central Park West India (Coltrane) Tin Can Alley Pastel Rhapsody Riff Raff I saw DeJohnette in concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in January, 1981. With Jack were John Purcell, Chico Freeman and Peter Warren. It was an outstanding concert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Jack is an amazing drummer and so good at a variety of contexts. I look forward to his forthcoming ECM album with Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 He's been on many records I don't really get into, but it's never his fault that I don't. Also, thinking of him as an "ECM drummer" is maybe a little myopic. He's probably one of the least stylistically restricted drummers of our lifetimes. What that has to do with "greatness", hell if I know, but the cat can play anything with anybody and bring it, so I'll let it ride on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Saw Jack deJohnette live on at least three occasions - two were with different "Special Editions", which were great, one with Alex Foster and Abercrombie, where Jack really directed the band from the drumset, and another with Lester Bowie, who took center stage, and Jack let him take it. The ECM CDs are only a hint at what these bands were live, IMO. The third I remember was a concert with Foday Musa Suso and Jerome Harris where he disappointed me as he played routine jazzy fusion licks instead of locking into Suso's tight African grooves. I thought he was great with Miles and his own bands for ten years after that, but fell back into more routine playalong modes since then, which he does extremely well and all, but does no longer fascinate me. I learned a lot from listening to him, wouldn't count him among my favourite top ten drummers, but definitely among the top 50 all time influential jazz drummers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 The recent CD with Threadgill, Muhal & Roscoe is a "typical" ECM album? - I don't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 Certainly posted somewhere else on the board, but here is an interview of JdJ by Anthony Brown back in 2011: http://amhistory.si.edu/jazz/DeJohnette-Jack/DeJohnette_Jack_Interview_Transcription.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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