Jack DeJohnette, American drummer her jazz who was hailed as one of the true greats of the genre and worked with stars such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charles Lloyd has died at the age of 83 in a hospital in Kingston, New York.
A spokesperson for ECM, the record company that released many of the great jazz drummer’s recordings, Jack DeJohnetteconfirmed the news, while his personal assistant added that he died of congestive heart failure, according to the British newspaper “The Guardian».
THE DeJohnette he is perhaps best known as the drummer of his fusion period Miles Daviscontributing to albums such as ‘Bitches Brew»«Jack Johnson» and “On the Corner».
Born and raised in Chicago, he played piano from the age of five or six and continued alongside the drums he learned in his early teens. THE Jack DeJohnette came of age at an interesting time for the city’s music scene – surrounded by R&B and hard bop and with the abundance of innovative ideas he also expanded his musical vocabulary.
Arriving in New York he collaborated with the trumpeter Miles Davis and succeeded him Tony Williams on the drums of his band.
THE DeJohnette began fronting several bands in the early 1970s, including Compost, Directions, New Directions and Special Editionwith a diverse group of musicians. From the 1980s, while continuing to front his own projects and bands, he was also a member of the highly acclaimed trio Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette.
He won twice Grammymost recently in 2022 with ‘Skyline’ (in collaboration with Ron Carter and Gonzalo Rubalcampa which won Best Jazz Instrumental Album and was also named Master Jazz from the National Arts Foundation in 2012.
THE DeJohnette married twice, first to Deirdre Davenportwhom he met in high school in Chicago. He met his second wife, Lydia backstage at ‘Ronnie Scott’s’ club in London in 1966 and later moved to the US with him. They had two daughters, Tribe and the Minia.