27 Comments
Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

Thanks for the link to the NYT piece on Jack, Vinnie.

There were actually two more ECM's from him [which Manfred hasn't released on CD]: 'Untitled' & 'New Rags', both with John Abercrombie, Alex Foster, sax & Warren Bernhardt on keyboards. I saw the album launch of the former in September, '76 @ the VV. I'll never forget it-when the lights came on after the 1st set, every drummer in NYC was there! Roy, Elvin, Bobo Shaw, etc, etc. Charlie Haden sat in on bass in the 3rd set. Great times!

https://ecmreviews.com/2010/11/25/jack-dejohnette-untitled/

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Nice story about the VV Charles, and love hearing about the drummers. Especially nice to see Bobo Shaw’s name, an important player.

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

i saw the band with gary peacock sitting in, in seattle in the late 70's or early 80's.. i believe it was peter warren on bass at the time... it was so great to see one of my favourite drummers - dejohonette - for the first time... it was in a small venue and poorly attended, but it was a great show.. i drove down from vancouver with some friends at the time..

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Nice! Especially with theGary Peacock sighting. I believe he was teaching in Washington State at the time, at Corning? Brad Shepik knew him at that time, I believe.

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i think he was living their at the time for some reason... i want to say the horn player on the gig at the time was arthur blythe, but i am not sure...

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Thanks for bringing attention to Jack,Elvin, Blackwell, Williams et al. Re ECM Dejohnette, I'm partial to New Directions with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie and Eddie Gomez, particularly the track "Sleepy Hollow".

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Thanks for the recommendation Howard— Checking out New Directions studio now (love the live album they did for ECM). And many thanks for your years of service 🙏🙏

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Kudos appreciated, Vinnie, but "service", I dunno. . .just listening to great music :)

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

Man, I think back to that Willy P concert often. Otherworldly. Thanks man!

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

This is Tim Metz, Evie is my daughter. Apparently, this is her account.

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Hi Tim! Yeah, we were hanging in the practice room right before the concert! Good times and great to hear from you…🙏🙏

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

Hey Vinnie: great post as always! As it happens I am knee deep in the discography right now (I listened to most of the ECM's today and am into the two MCA Impulse albums with the Osby-Thomas-Goodrick-Plaxico band right now. Picking tracks for my Sunday radio show spotlighting DeJohnette-as-composer:

https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/145044

(The first two Sundays of the month I featured Ralph Peterson Jr. and Allison Miller. After DeJohnette I'm turning attention to Motian! Any chance I can get you to phone in and re-enact one of your conversations with P.M.? And what would he say if you did!)

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Thanks Peter! I’ll email about this.

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The version of 'Speedball' on which DeJohnette sits in with Lee Morgan's band during their Lighthouse gig in 1970 is absolutely extraordinary - he takes that group to another galaxy.

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Yeah Robert! Good call, classic cut, DeJohnette sitting in on Mickey Roker’s gig, and Roker deserves more attention too…

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Yes - I hope my comment didn't mean that Roker's playing on the Lighthouse gig wasn't at the highest level - it was!!!!!

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

hey you are jumping around talking about two of my favourite drummers - dejohnette and blackwell, lol... have you heard dejohnettes piano album with freddie watts on drums?? you didn't mention that!! album album is an awesome recording for all the songs on it.. he also has a song book with some of these songs in it too for anyone wanting to find a transcription of the songs.. okay - i am rambling.. thanks for the post vinnie!

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Hi James, I have heard it and even drafted some notes about it. It’s a real window into Jack’s musicianship and artistry, besides being a fun record with a fun version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” with some synths..Thanks James, always appreciate your comments, Ramble On!

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

This does such a fun freewheeling job of making me feel like I *must* watch and listen to every one of these performances.

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Much appreciated and ENJOY!

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

And re “his trademark repeated-note tremor” … damn!

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Yeah Rob!

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Oct 16Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza

Thanks for the heads up about the Ornette 1971 gig appearance. I had no idea. Will devour later. Henderson, Tyner, DeJohnette, Grimes Slugs’ date ordered on CD.

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Anytime Bill 🙏

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Nov 5·edited Nov 5

This piece is so jam-packed with tunes to listen to and connections to be solidified in my mind. I am thankful for this as a course of study for myself at this moment. Also, Vinnie, you have the wonderful ability to situate players in historical time while making really interesting links that help me understand influences and trajectories. I find the second paragraph here to be exemplary in that regard, and I am so thankful!

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Very grateful for some new Jack to check out, and thanks for links to those fantastic videos. Been watching a lot of full-show jazz performances on YouTube lately, and those were both really fun to watch. And I love hearing Tony sing, so much heart.

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Wonderful Vinnie. Thanks so much.

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