The dynamic drummer worked with jazz innovators and avant-garde pioneers across his career.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette has died. He was 83 years old. For decades, he collaborated with artists like Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett and Alice Coltrane. And he became a composer and band leader in his own right. NPR’s Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has this appreciation.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Jack DeJohnette is known as one of the most influential drummers in modern jazz.
(SOUNDBITE OF JACK DEJOHNETTE, ET AL.’S “IN MOVEMENT”)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: But growing up in Chicago in the 1940s and ’50s, DeJohnette studied a different instrument – classical piano. As a young man, he accepted an offer to tour with saxophonist Eddie Harris. And as he told NPR in an archival interview, those shows would launch his trajectory.
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JACK DEJOHNETTE: It was Eddie who told me, he said, you know, you play good piano and – but I think you play great drums more than you play piano.
ROBERT SIEGEL: (Laughter).
DEJOHNETTE: He said, and if you stick with drums, you’re going to go far.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In the 1960s, DeJohnette moved to New York City and began playing with The Charles Lloyd Quartet.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLES LLOYD’S “FOREST FLOWER: SUNRISE”)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: The band embraced the avant-garde, free-spirited approach of the counterculture and became a crossover success with younger audiences.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLES LLOYD’S “FOREST FLOWER: SUNRISE”)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Later, DeJohnette continued to push rock and jazz experimentation forward, becoming one of the key percussionists on Miles Davis’ kaleidoscopic album, “B****** Brew.”
(SOUNDBITE OF MILES DAVIS’ “PHARAOH’S DANCE”)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: DeJohnette became a prolific sideman and bandleader, known for his ability to pivot from jazz fusion to standards. He was especially loved for his deep grooves and expansive improvisational skills. He told NPR that his motto came from Davis.
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DEJOHNETTE: As Miles would say, be prepared to play what you don’t know.
(SOUNDBITE OF MILES DAVIS’ “PHARAOH’S DANCE”)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: DeJohnette’s career spanned over six decades. In 2012, he received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award. In 2015, he told NPR how much he valued longevity, not just in his own career, but in his creative collaborations.
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DEJOHNETTE: Everybody’s playing music with the wisdom and youthful vitality and energy and passion that, you know, we still got things to say.
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GOMEZ SARMIENTO: DeJohnette never stopped playing piano. But in the last chapter of his life, he returned to the instrument with a renewed focus. Although health concerns kept him from touring, he performed concerts near his home in Upstate New York until the very end.
Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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