R.I.P. Jack DeJohnette

 

From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack.

Twenty-four-year-old Jack DeJohnette with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, 1966, "East of the Sun." Jack DeJohnette was important because he fused power, subtlety, and innovation across jazz’s most transformative eras. He moved fluidly between straight-ahead swing, avant-garde abstraction, and electric fusion. He could anchor a groove or dissolve into texture. This made him indispensable from the 1960s through the 2020s. • Miles Davis — Played on Bitches Brew (1969), helping redefine jazz with rock, funk, and open improvisation. • Keith Jarrett Trio — Drummer for 30+ years in one of jazz’s longest-running groups, blending classical touch and rhythmic elasticity. • Chicago avant-garde — Worked with Muhal Richard Abrams and AACM musicians, bridging inside/outside styles. • New Directions, Special Edition, Gateway — His own groups pushed composition, free improv, and global rhythms. DeJohnette was a colorist. His cymbal work, use of space, and dynamic control let him play melodically, not just rhythmically. He approached drums like a composer. He expanded what jazz drumming could be: more than timekeeping, more than flash. Drummers like Brian Blade, Eric Harland, and Tyshawn Sorey carry his legacy. He remained vital for over 60 years, adapting without imitating trends. His work crossed generations, always with integrity. In short: DeJohnette didn’t just play behind great music—he shaped it.

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I had the distinct honor and pleasure of witnessing Jack DeJohnette in concert myself, when, on March 12th, 2015, he and his high school friends and jazz collaborators including Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, and Henry Threadgill. The band lineup included Jack DeJohnette on drums and percussion, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Larry Gray on double bass and cello, and reed players Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill. 

For his part, Roscoe Mitchell played several instruments including sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute, and recorder.  Henry Threadgill played both alto saxophone and bass flute during the performance, and, on their subsequent ECM Records release of one of these live concerts entitled “Made In Chicago”.  These compositions in the show and on the record, though they must have been charted for some kind of roadmap, truly sounded improvised and it was an impressive, mind boggling experience to hear the music that Jack DeJohnette and his friends and bandmates played for the captivated audience on that particular evening. 

It made me look at music and particularly jazz music in a new way that I had never approached it before, although, it’s complexity of improvisation and so on made me marvel more than try to contemplate how it worked.  So, this is my experience of how Jack DeJohnette became an influential part of my musical journey.  Rest In Peace, Jack DeJohnette.  You will be missed.