Jack DeJohnette - 1970 [2015] "Have You Heard"

Have You Heard? is an album by Jack DeJohnette featuring Bennie Maupin, Gary Peacock and Hideo Ichikawa recorded in Tokyo in April 1970 and released on the Milestone label.

Devotees of free jazz will want to check out this 1970 release from DeJohnette, the great drummer, who was to go on to build a recording career as varied as the sounds you will find on this album.
"Have You Heard?" recorded in Japan, featured DeJohnette (who also contributes to one tune on piano) with reedman and flautist Bennie Maupin (who played with Miles during this period, as did Jack), bassist Gary Peacock and the Japanese pianist, Hideo Ichikawa. All three were fine players; Maupin and Ichikawa, unfortunately, for the most part slipped from sight in the years following this release.

The release, nearly an hour in length even in the original vinyl, courageously explored abstract sounds and broken rhythms, pushing the boundaries of improvisation in some cases about as far as they will go. For an example, check out the title cut, which features all four players freely exploring ideas suggested by a series of rhythms laid down by DeJohnette at the beginning of the piece. Near the end of the piece, we have sound dissolving into abstract forays and DeJohnette crying out. A harmonica seems to wander in for a few stretch. The 21-minute piece has the quality of a dream.

The 19-minute "Papa-Daddy," similarly takes the listeners through an aural landscape that is not immediately recognizable. Although the sound at times seems to wander aimlessly, there is a superb lengthy section in which all four improvise together. No, it doesn't "swing," but one feels that however disparate the paths the four are following, they are observing, thinking about and responding to the decisions of one another.

The other two cuts, "Neophilia" and "For Jane," are a bit more conventional, but still move closer to abstraction than to conventional form. The former has a fine dark, sonorous refrain from Maupin that forms the core of the tune; "For Jane" gives us a chance to hear DeJohnette at the piano, an instrument on which he has a fine touch. Check out his mid-'80s piano album on Milestone for a full album of his work at the keyboard.

Jack's drumming on this album, though, is the feature, and it is a marvel. Few drummers are more melodic, and he listens wonderfully, as do the best. He juggles rhythms incessantly behind his bandmates, who present very different voices. Maupin has some very fiery, discordant passages, particularly on "Have You Heard?"; Ichikawa offers stretches of melodicism that are a refreshing contrast, much in the same way that McCoy Tyner leavened the fury of Coltrane's last releases. Peacock moves in and out of the changing sounds expertly and offers some fine solo moments.

The audience for this is probably quite limited. However, if you are open to challenging sounds, it offers a very worthwhile listen. These recordings are necessary to keep alive the notion of what music can be.

Recorded live at Toshi Center Hall, Akasaka, Tokyo, April 7, 1970

https://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot.com/search?q=Jack+Dejohnette

Track listing:

All compositions by Jack DeJohnette except as indicated

1. "Neophilia (Love of the New) (Bennie Maupin) - 9:52
2. "Papa-Daddy" - 19:53
3. "Have You Heard?" - 21:26
4. "For Jane" - 7:56

Personnel:

Jack DeJohnette – drums, electric piano, voice
Bennie Maupin – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Hideo Ichikawa – piano
Gary Peacock – bass