Over the past few years,
Jack DeJohnette has had his storied jazz career -- now over six decades -- revisited in several ways. In 2013, he led a "dream band" at the Chicago Jazz Festival that included
Roscoe Mitchell,
Henry Threadgill,
Muhal Richard Abrams, and Larry Guy, all of whom he'd played with in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians during the early '60s. That performance was released in 2015 by
ECM as
Made in Chicago. Earlier this year, Resonance Records issued
Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest, which featured
DeJohnette in
Bill Evans' trio with
Eddie Gomez in 1968.
In Movement finds the bandleader in a new trio with saxophonist
Ravi Coltrane and bassist/electronicist
Matthew Garrison. As a young drummer he had the opportunity to sit in with both their fathers,
John Coltrane and
Jimmy Garrison. This debut also looks at history, but through the gaze of the present. The set begins with
Coltrane, Sr.'s classic Civil Rights-era composition, "Alabama." While it is instantly recognizable, the trio find their own form of liberty within it via
Garrison's electric bass harmonics and economic use of electronics.
Coltrane's tenor states the melodic frame solemnly while
DeJohnette dances around the pair with quick accents and feints, juxtaposing circular rhythm and improvisation. Also present is
Miles Davis' modal classic "Blue in Green." This drummerless reading with
DeJohnette at the piano is more abstract.
Ravi's soprano is beautifully lyrical inside the modes, while
Garrison adorns both players in sparse layers of honeyed echo. The inclusion of
Earth, Wind & Fire's "Serpentine" is not as out of place as it initially seems:
DeJohnette played with the group's founder
Maurice White in Chicago. The slow, unwinding funk is a showcase for
Coltrane's phrasing and
Garrison's groove-laden bass playing as the drummer adds tough, slippery breaks. This group showcases its collective prowess in the long title track. Commencing with an urgent single-chord piano and synth pulse, tapping cymbals, and syncopated hi-hat,
Garrison employs a low-end chordal bass toward
Coltrane's long, labyrinthine soprano melody. The tune unfurls, building to a stunning crescendo at the conclusion. "Two Jimmys" (for
Hendrix and
Garrison) offers a Middle Eastern modal center via synth and a treated bassline.
Coltrane's tenor moves from the inside to out while
DeJohnette's drums deliver a martial cadence that eventually splits the jam wide open. "Rashied" (in tribute to
Coltrane, Sr.'s great last drummer
Rashied Ali) is a wailing improv duet between
DeJohnette and
Ravi, exploring their own version of "interstellar space."
DeJohnette contributes "Lydia" (an homage to his wife) as a post-bop ballad with gorgeous bassline lyricism from
Garrison, and the lovely piano trio closer "Soulful Ballad." Historical (re)examinations aside,
In Movement is a compelling first statement from a band who, despite generational differences, is connected through deep listening and harmonic intelligence. This group's future is rife with possibility. ~ Thom Jurek