Jazz Articles about Jack DeJohnette

About Jack DeJohnette

Album Review

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 ...

Liner Notes

Miles Davis Quintets: Stockholm 1967 & 1969 Revisited

by Mark Corroto
January 16, 2023

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 ...

Readers Poll Results

Your Favorite Living Jazz Drummers

by Michael Ricci
November 10, 2022

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 ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets

Read "The Emerald Duets" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
July 11, 2022

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 ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets

Read "The Emerald Duets" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 10, 2022

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. ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: Stockholm Live 1967 & 1969 Revisited

Read "Stockholm Live 1967 & 1969 Revisited" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini

by Maurizio Comandini
June 22, 2022

Stesso leader, Miles Davis; stessa strumentazione, tromba, sax, pianoforte, contrabbasso e batteria; stessa città, Stoccolma, ma in due sale diverse; due anni di distanza. Eppure questi due concerti sono abbastanza diversi fra di loro, anche se forse lo potrebbero essere stati ancora di più. Quello del 1967 vede il quintetto classico di Miles Davis registrato al culmine della sua parabola artistica, con una musica raffinata e potente allo tesso tempo, tecnicamente complessa eppure resa con grande scioltezza, proprio grazie alla ...

Album Review

Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Skyline

by Jim Worsley
April 2, 2022

Substantial yet serene, sophisticated yet soothing, Skyline oozes with the earthiness of New York City. Here, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba merged their broad skills into an assemblage of erudite conversations, each package wrapped with beauty and delicate care. Of the many common threads heard in this collection, none could be more precious than time. Yes, of course, the trio had a wealth of rich pockets, but the reference is made to time of another nature. They were ...