[1] Bayou Fever (DeJohnette) - 8:41
[2] Gri Gri Man (DeJohnette) - 4:45
[3] To Be Continued (DeJohnette) - 9:12
[4] One for Eric (DeJohnette) - 9:51
[5] Unshielded Desire (Abercrombie/DeJohnette) - 4:48
[6] Blue (DeJohnette) - 8:14
Jack DeJohnette - Organ, Synthesizer, Guitar, Conga, Drums, Keyboards, Timbales
John Abercrombie - Guitar, Mandolin
Arthur Blythe - Alto Saxophone
Lester Bowie - Trumpet
Eddie Gomez - Bass
Dave Holland - Bass
Terje Rypdal - Guitar
Miroslav Vitous - Bass
Peter Warren - Bass
David Murray - Bass Clarinet
Jan Erik Kongshaug - Engineer
Tony May - Engineer
Martin Wieland - Engineer
Dieter Rehm - Design
Gerd Winner - Cover Design
Roberto Masotti - Photography
WORKS is a series of ten albums which is being released on the occasion
of EMC's 15th anniversary. The series presents recordings of ten
musicians who have been working with ECM from the beginning. The WORKS
albums are available in a limited edition only.
WORKS:
Jan Garbarek
Gary Burton
Ralph Towner
Pat Metheny
Egberto Gismonti
Chic Korea
Terje Rypdal
Keith Jarret
Eberhard Weber
Jack DeJohnette
Biography of Jack DeJohnette:
At his best, Jack DeJohnette is one of the most consistently inventive
jazz percussionists extant. DeJohnette's style is wide-ranging, yet,
while capable of playing convincingly in any modern idiom, he always
maintains a well-defined voice. DeJohnette has a remarkably fluid
relationship to pulse. His time is excellent; even as he pushes, pulls
and generally obscures the beat beyond recognition, a powerful sense of
swing is ever-present. His tonal palette is huge as well; no drummer
pays closer attention to the sounds that come out of his kit than
DeJohnette. He possesses a comprehensive musicality rare among jazz
drummers.
That's perhaps explained by the fact that, before he played the drums,
DeJohnette was a pianist. From the age of four, he studied classical
piano. As a teenager he became interested in blues, popular music, and
jazz; Ahmad Jamal was an early influence. In his late teens, DeJohnette
began playing drums, which soon became his primary instrument. In the
early '60s occurred the most significant event of his young
professional life -- an opportunity to play with John Coltrane. In the
mid-'60s, DeJohnette became involved with the Chicago-based Association
for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He moved to New York in
1966, where he played again with Coltrane, and also with Jackie McLean.
His big break came as a member of the very popular Charles Lloyd
Quartet from 1966-68. The drummer's first record as a leader was 1968's
The DeJohnette Complex. In 1969, DeJohnette replaced Tony Williams in
Miles Davis' band; later that year, he played on the trumpeter's
seminal jazz-rock recording Bitches Brew. DeJohnette left Davis in
1972, and began working more frequently as a leader. In the '70s and
'80s, DeJohnette became something like a house drummer for ECM,
recording both as leader and sideman with such label mainstays as Jan
Garbarek, Kenny Wheeler, and Pat Metheny.
DeJohnette's first band was Compost; his later, more successful bands
were Directions and Special Edition. The eclectic, avant-fusion
Directions was originally comprised of the bassist Mike Richmond,
guitarist John Abercrombie, and saxophonist Alex Foster. In a
subsequent incarnation -- called, appropriately, New Directions --
bassist Eddie Gomez replaced Richmond and trumpeter Lester Bowie
replaced Foster. From the mid-'70s, Directions recorded several albums
in its twin guises for ECM. Beginning in 1979, DeJohnette also led
Special Edition, a more straightforwardly swinging unit that featured
saxophonists David Murray and Arthur Blythe. For a time, both groups
existed simultaneously; Special Edition would eventually become the
drummer's performance medium of choice. The band began life as an
acoustic free-jazz ensemble, featuring the drummer's esoteric takes on
the mainstream. It evolved into something quite different, as
DeJohnette's conception changed into something considerably more
commercial; with the addition of electric guitars and keyboards,
DeJohnette began playing what is essentially a very loud, backbeat
oriented -- though sophisticated -- instrumental pop music. To be fair,
DeJohnette's fusion efforts are miles ahead of most others'. His
abilities as a groove-centered drummer are considerable, but one misses
the subtle colorations of his acoustic work. That side of DeJohnette is
shown to good effect in his work with Keith Jarrett's Standards trio,
and in his occasional meetings with Abercrombie and Dave Holland in the
Gateway trio.