Jack De Johnette RIP

[felser]

I especially liked the ECM New Directions albums with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie, and Eddie Gomez.  Doesn't sound like a lineup which should work, but it did, splendidly.

[JSngry]

18 minutes ago, felser said:

I especially liked the ECM New Directions albums with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie, and Eddie Gomez.  Doesn't sound like a lineup which should work, but it did, splendidly.

I saw that band live. Indeed, splendid!

[kh1958]

He was one of my favorites to see live.

I recollect seeing him nine times:

Three different versions of Special Edition: one about the time of Inflation Blues (with Marty Ehrlich instead of Chico Freeman), the group on Album Album with David Murray, and twice for the Greg Osby/Gary Thomas edition.

As a sideman twice, backing up Keith Jarrett and McCoy Tyner.

And finally, three times with Matt Garrison and Ravi Coltrane.

[BFrank]

On 10/30/2025 at 8:43 AM, felser said:

I especially liked the ECM New Directions albums with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie, and Eddie Gomez.  Doesn't sound like a lineup which should work, but it did, splendidly.

Definitely! Both the original album and the live "In Europe" are excellent!

Jack with Ravi and Matt Garrison at Big Ears 2019. I was lucky to see this trio a few times.

Unfortunately, because of where I was sitting and Jack's ride cymbals, you can't see his face here

[Mark Stryker]

Jack and Al

I heard Jack DeJohnette live many times, but the first time I saw him in person he wasn’t performing. He was hanging out in the corner of a long-gone Greenwich Village club, Lush Life, checking out a casual trio gig by pianist Richie Beirach, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Al Foster. It was March 1982 and I was 18.  On the break, my older brother crossed paths with Al at the sink in the men’s room. Without prompting, Al looked at my brother and said, excitedly, “Did you see Jack DeJohnette is in the club?! I’m so nervous! Jack is my idol!”

Think for second about how brilliant Al Foster was, and how much he had accomplished by 1982. Only five months younger than Jack, Al was 39 and at the top of his game. Yet Jack’s presence at his gig had Al gushing like a 12-year-old who just saw his favorite baseball player in the flesh. That’s how great Jack DeJohnette was and how much respect he commanded from his peers. Now both Jack and Al are gone, having ided almost exactly five months apart.

They died almost exactly five months apart, Al at 82 on May 28 and Jack at 83 three days ago on the 26th.  
It's almost impossible to fathom how much aesthetic ground Jack covered during his career, how many diverse bands and recordings he defined with his creativity and unique sound, how many drummers he influenced. Jack remains in a class by himself, partly because beyond his landmark work as a drummer, he was also an imposing bandleader, composer, conceptualist, and multi-instrumentalist. 

But Al also belongs in the top tier of post-bop drummers, and it’s interesting to think about the similarities and differences between them. Both were first-rate colorists, masters of texture and dynamics, each able to strike a groove across a dizzying array of idioms. There was more pure bebop in Al’s DNA than in Jack’s. Al might opt for minimalism where Jack might choose a maximalist approach. These are just generalities, of course. The decision making of both drummers was at once remarkably advanced and unpredictable. I never heard either make a bad choice on the bandstand.

Some losses are tougher than others but losing Al  and Jack within five months? Goddman ... All I can say is that whoever is running this fucking circus better be taking damn good care of Billy Hart and Louis Hayes.

Edited Saturday at 11:02 AM by Mark Stryker

[l p]

some great Jack special edition 1980 shows at

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=allintitle%3A+Jack+DeJohnette+1980&sp=EgIYAg%3D%3D

with blythe, chico freeman, peter warren.

i see only one 1982 show there, with david murray and purcell. the 1982 stuff is just as good.

nurnberg 1982

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rP9QetjTtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htlDvOmhNOQ

 

[JSngry]

I still smile when I think of Par Metheney's description of Jack's style as "sneakers in a clothes dryer". Apt!

[danasgoodstuff]

On 11/1/2025 at 10:13 AM, JSngry said:

I still smile when I think of Par Metheney's description of Jack's style as "sneakers in a clothes dryer". Apt!

'But in a good way'?

[JSngry]

Definitely!

[Guy Berger]

I saw him twice - once with Gateway, one w/the Jarrett standards trio.

[felser]

Only saw him ca. 1989 with his Special Edition group that had Osby/Gary Thomas/Mick Goodrick/Lonnie Plaxico.  Not fond of the other players in that group, but DeJohnette himself was splendid.

[Chuck Nessa]

Last time I saw him was the Chicago fest in 2013.

[BFrank]

17 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Last time I saw him was the Chicago fest in 2013.

That must have been a special show to see in person!

[Pim]

I just checked my collection where he plays and just a few examples:

Alice Coltranes Universal Consciousness

Anouar Brahems Blue Maqams

Freddie Hubbards First Light

Jackie McLeans Demons Dance

Joe Hendersons Power to the People

Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew

Paul Desmond’s Skylark

plus many more but his ability to shine one these very different kind of records in such a great way says a lot about his qualities as a drummer

[felser]

His work is astounding on that Tyner-Henderson archival set that came out on Blue Note last year.

[HutchFan]

Jack has a truly AMAZING discography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_DeJohnette_discography

So, so many favorites -- both as a leader & sideman.

[ep1str0phy]

This is a really unusual one that I rediscovered recently - a Kalaparusha record w/Karl and Ingrid Berger, Jumma Santos, and Tom Schmidt (the latter of whom I am not familiar with): 

It's great to hear DeJohnette in this sort of rambling free jazz context. It lacks the precision of something like Special Edition, but it serves as nice connective tissue to the AACM music made in Paris in the '60s and NY in the '70s.