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Jack DeJohnette: Sorcery
by Rob Garratt
Which Jack DeJohnette is best known? The subtle sticksmith at the heart of Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio, perhaps? Probably the heavyweight hitter driving electric-era Miles Davis' '70s sonic brew. Maybe the percussive upstart propelling Charles Lloyd to crossover flower-power fame? Or even the fearless bandleader behind the ever-thrilling Special Edition band ... At age 81, DeJohnette can (still) fairly claim to be the most in-demand jazz drummer on the planet. But even the most studious acolyte ...
Continue ReadingJack DeJohnette: Sorcery
by Scott Gudell
Jack DeJohnette gets around. The Chicago born drummer was drawn to R&B and bebop in the late 1950s and eventually toyed with a more avant-garde jazz sound when he spent some time with the esoteric Sun Ra. It seems like DeJohnette played in the big leagues almost from the beginning since, by the time he moved to New York City in the mid-1960s, he was teaming up with other monsters of jazz such as Keith Jarrett and Charles Lloyd. Several ...
Continue ReadingKenny Wheeler: Gnu High
by Chris May
Trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer Kenny Wheeler's exalted Gnu High, first released in 1976, is one of two albums with which ECM launches its audiophile vinyl reissue series, Luminessence, on April 28, 2023. The Luminessence mission statement is to showcase albums that have “changed perceptions of creative music making." And few would dispute this summation of the first batch of releases (listed below). Some of the albums will be presented in facsimile editions, others--such as Gnu High--in gatefold ...
Continue ReadingMiles Davis Quintets: Stockholm 1967 & 1969 Revisited
by Mark Corroto
Let me ask you, how many versions of Miles Davis do you recognize? Let us employ the word 'recognize' in terms of both, to identify and to approve. Listeners new to the world of Miles would be hard pressed to associate the artist seen and heard with Charlie Parker at New York's Three Deuces in 1947 with the same man performing in Montreux, Switzerland some forty years later. Both his look and his sound had changed, making him unrecognizable to ...
Continue ReadingYour Favorite Living Jazz Drummers
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite living jazz drummers. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's living drummers poll was conducted during the 2022 calendar year running from January to November. We would like to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list (200 total!) for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover. 1 Jack DeJohnette2Brian Blade3Steve Gadd4Roy Haynes5Peter Erskine6Jeff Tain Watts7Antonio Sanchez8Billy Cobham9Terri Lyne Carrington10Vinnie Colaiuta11Bill ...
Continue ReadingWadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets
by Karl Ackermann
The pioneering British photographer/author Val Wilmer said of Wadada Leo Smith, “he no longer relates to the restrictions of scales and chords. To him, music is about two things only: sound and rhythm." Her assessment, from the essential book As Serious As Your Life (Allison & Busby Ltd, 1977), was published in 1977. But in the survey of creative music history, her title could have been a sole perspective on Smith. After being a regular contributor to John ...
Continue ReadingWadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets
by Dan McClenaghan
Wadada Leo Smith's music is often celestial, but the man himself is of this Earth—of America, in particular, the progeny of people brought to the Western Hemisphere involuntarily. People who have historically been treated as less than human, for the “sin" of having dark skin. This goes on. The true sin, the flames of racism, are stoked by a former and possibly future (God help us all) president—a cruel, sociopathic, immoral, dishonest racist. Wadada Leo Smith is America. ...
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