Jack DeJohnette, the visionary drummer whose piano stylings became a force later in his career, died on October 26 at HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, N.Y. He was 83. The cause was congestive heart failure, Lydia DeJohnette, his wife and manager, toldNPR.
DeJohnette was an inventive drummer who extended the boundaries of modern jazz. His sound was a combination of jazz traditions and abandoned avant garde influences. His flowing drum approach was influenced by jazz icons Roy Haynes and Rashied Ali, devising what he called a multidirectional style. As the house drummer for two contrasting jazz labels, ECM and CTI, DeJohnette’s spontaneous command of funk and jazz made him one of the most sought-after drummers for studio sessions and live performances.
Multi-Grammy Award winner and NEA Jazz Master, DeJohnette composed soundtracks for television and videos. He released more than 50 albums as a bandleader and appeared on hundreds of recordings as a sideman — with everyone, including milestone sessions with Wayne Shorter on “Super Nova,” and Keith Jarrett on “Standards,” to saxophonist Sonny Rollins, guitarist Pat Mehtheny, and harpist and keyboardist Alice Coltrane. He composed soundtracks for both television and video.
Trio Gateway was one of his earlier groups, which he co-led with guitarist John Abercrombie and bassist Dave Holland. His band Directions also featured Abercrombie playing in a fusion arena. His most acclaimed ensemble was Special Edition innovative collaborators like multi-reed-man David Murray and tubaist Howard Johnson.
DeJohnette launched Golden Beams Productions, an independent record label, to record his many creative projects. The label earned him a Grammy Award for “Peace Time,” on which he is both featured artist and co-producer.
The Jack DeJohnette Group, which he formed in 2010, explored fusion with alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and the inventive guitarist David Fiuczynski. He led another intergenerational combo, with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and electric bassist Matthew Garrison, on the album “In Movement” (ECM, 2016).
“Jack has taught me many things, mostly to keep an open mind and remain fearless in my rhythmic expressions,” said Grammy-winning drummer/composer Will Calhoun. “He loved and supported Living Colour and all of my solo recordings, mix media art shows, research in West Africa, and my visual rhythmic art work.”
DeJohnette was born on Aug. 9, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, to Jack DeJohnette, Sr. and Eva Jeanette DeJohnette. Raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, he studied classical piano for 10 years before switching to drums. As a student attending Chicago Vocational School [in 1961], he played rock & roll and sang in a doo wop group. The jazz sound caught his ear after hearing pianist Ahmad Jamal’s 1958 live album “At the Pershing: But Not for Me.” DeJohnette’s uncle Roy Wood, Sr., a legendary Chicago jazz radio personality, often took him to local live music spots in the city that influenced his jazz passion.
In the early 1960s, DeJohnette played various genres in local clubs. He became entrenched in avant garde as an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), where he explored boundless expression playing with co-founders Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, and Joseph Jarman. He later assisted in organizing a tribute to AACM with Mitchell, multi-reedist Henry Threadgill, and bassist Larry Gray that produced the album “Made in Chicago.” On the advice of Abrahms, DeJohnette moved to New York in 1966.
When the drummer arrived in NYC in 1966, he was creatively equipped to join the Charles Lloyd Quartet, playing alongside pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Cecil McBee. DeJohnette joined Miles Davis’s band during his fusion conversion, recording on such groundbreaking albums as “Bitches Brew” (Columbia, 1970), “Jack Johnson” (Columbia, 1971), and “On the Corner” (1972). Davis noted in his memoir that DeJohnette “gave me a certain deep groove that I just loved to play over.”
The New York Times said the recordings he had made with Miles Davis “helped to change the direction of modern jazz and launched a new style of funk-inflected jazz-rock.” In 1970, he fueled the group that performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, for a crowd estimated at over half a million people. His work with Miles led to collaborations with Miles alumni Chick Corea, Dave Holland, John McLaughlin, and Keith Jarrett from his time with Lloyd’s band.
In the midst of leading his own groups, DeJohnette was a member of the celebrated Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette trio. He continued to record and perform on keyboards, releasing albums such as “Zebra,” a trumpet duo with Lester Bowie featuring shades of African music. He extended his interest in African music in a 2005 duet with noted Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. In 2012, DeJohnette released “Sound Travels,” which included appearances by Bobby McFerrin, Quintero, Bruce Hornsby, Esperanza Spalding, Lionel Loueke, and Jason Moran.
DeJohnette is survived by Lydia, his wife of 57 years, and their two daughters, Farah and Minya.