Whereas some musicians might take pride in labeling themselves as performers of a specific musical genre, the members of Jack DeJohnette’s Latin Project won’t limit themselves that way.
- Chelsea Trull
- DeJohnette combines rock, pop and other genres in his brand of jazz. (Courtesy of UMS)
Instead, in just the opposite fashion, the group’s members pride themselves in taking their music outside of a box that other jazz groups may fall inside of.
DeJohnette’s newest group project blends varied aspects from many different musical genres; consequently, this combination of musicians produces its own unique musical sound.
DeJohnette grew up listening to records and the radio and has attributed his eclectic style to his reluctance to categorize music.
“It was all music, and it was all fascinating,” DeJohnette said in a written release.
However, the group’s eclectic sound cannot only be attributed to DeJohnette. This project also includes Jerome Harris on bass, Don Byron on clarinet, Giovanni Hidalgo on congas, Luisito Quintero on timbales and bongos and Edsel Gomez playing piano.
Harris has appeared on over 50 recordings performing both bass and guitar; he has played instruments from the accordion to the guitar and plays and listens to genres from pop to gospel to rock‘n’roll. Don Byron has also developed a reputation for making a sound without boundaries.
In addition to solid, professional accompaniment for the Latin Project, DeJohnette has a long and prominent history in the jazz recording industry.
He has played with jazz legends such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. He is considered in the jazz world to be one of the most important jazz musicians in generations.
DeJohnette has also recently completed The Out of Towners with Keith Sorrett and Gary Peacock as well as Dan Byron’s Ivey Divey. Both projects were nominated for Grammy Awards
This April, Dejohnette will release two new albums after starting to produce on his own label, Golden Beams.
The first is a duo project, called Music from the Hearts of the Masters, which features accompaniment by African kora master Foday Musa Suso.
His second project will be a duo with Don Alias. This will be the first album on which the two have recorded together.
Tomorrow’s performance will be the last of eight along the debut tour of the Jack Dejohnette Latin Project. The tour began on Jan. 26 in Burlington, Vt. and will be making its way to Hill Auditorium after playing at Orchestra Hall in his hometown of Chicago. Hopefully,
DeJohnette will save the best performance for his last.