“We are on a journey and in movement at all times,” says Jack DeJohnette in the liner notes to this amazing album. It’s a statement of the drummer’s philosophy for sure, and it also applies to the musicians in this trio and their relationships, but it’s also just true of us all, right? “He not busy being born is busy dying,” to quote one of DeJohnette’s contemporaries.
This trio, with Ravi Coltrane on saxophones and Matthew Garrison on electric bass and electronics, is one of those full-circle moments on DeJohnette’s journey. He played with the fathers of both of these men 50 years ago when he sat in with John Coltrane, with Jimmy Garrison on upright bass. And he was a mentor to the younger Garrison, who even lived with DeJohnette’s family during his teen years.
But while In Movement honors the past in these and many other ways, it is, as with everything DeJohnette touches, more about looking and moving forward. Tracks like the elder Coltrane’s Civil Rights-era elegy “Alabama,” which opens the disc, and “Two Jimmys,” which pays homage to Jimmy Garrison and Jimi Hendrix, demonstrate how that works. DeJohnette introduces “Alabama” with his signature delicate and intricate cymbal play, and more or less solos throughout the piece, behind Ravi’s beautifully melodic and respectful tenor playing as Garrison lays down a bass drone. The bassist sets up some subtly psychedelic electronics behind DeJohnette’s deep, slow, funky, and somewhat portentous groove on “Two Jimmys,” over which Coltrane plays melodic snatches on tenor.
The title track is a nearly 10-minute work that includes tickley electronics and a slinky groove from DeJohnette, which Ravi mines deeply on soprano.
A real highlight of the disc is on “Serpentine Fire.” Coltrane and Garrison help the drummer explore this Earth Wind and Fire gem, a throwback to DeJohnette’s stint in Miles Davis’s fusion-era ensemble. Garrison’s five-string electric bass playing is perfect for a piece like this and he really sets the mood for Coltrane’s soprano work. There’s nothing subtle about DeJohnette’s playing here, which features less cymbal and more stick on skin.
Speaking of Miles, DeJohnette on piano and Coltrane on soprano playing as a duo artfully deconstruct “Blue In Green” from the landmark Kind of Blue album. It’s a modernist excursion that perfectly encapsulates DeJohnette’s insistence on moving forward even while glancing back. Ditto the free improv of “Rashied,” which pays homage to drummer Rashied Ali on his Interstellar Space album with the elder Coltrane.
This trio first played together in 1992, but this is their first date for ECM, which is now DeJohnette’s main home (his 2015 free improv release Made in Chicago on ECM was a critical success). The ECM-style production perfectly highlights the breathing space all of these players like to have in their music, and the clean, stripped-down packaging and design further mirror that esthetic. To me, In Movement strikes a perfect balance between old and new, the kind of music that keeps me interested in exploring the world of jazz.
This mini-documentary will tell you some more about the album and give you a sample of how it sounds.
(ECM, 2016)
