In Movement

Name: In Movement
SKU: 72845
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Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison

EN / DE

There is a lot of history concentrated in Jack DeJohnette’s adventurous new trio. Fifty years ago, as a guest with John Coltrane’s group, Jack DeJohnette played with the fathers of Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, and the programme of In Movement opens with Coltrane’s harrowing and still pertinent elegy “Alabama”. Other covers include the classic “Blue In Green” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans (Jack is one of the few musicians to have played in the bands of both men) and “Serpentine Fire”, from the songbook of Earth, Wind and Fire, a tribute to Maurice White – who also collaborated with Jack in the early years. “The Two Jimmys” is an hommage to Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Garrison, innovators both, and “Rashied” salutes the late Rashied Ali, another great drummer from Coltrane’s cosmos. For all the wealth of references, this is indeed a band in movement, taking the music forward. Ravi Coltrane and Matt Garrison, in their ECM debuts, both respond magnificently to DeJohnette’s driving drumming, Ravi with superb solos, Garrison with lean bass lines and imaginative looping electronics. Jack DeJohnette: “We are connected at a very high and extremely personal level that I believe comes through in the music.” In Movement was recorded at New York’s Avatar Studios in October 2015, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Ein großes Stück Geschichte ist in dem neuen Trio von Jack DeJohnette konzentriert. Vor fünfzig Jahren spielte Jack DeJohnette als Gast des John Coltrane Ensembles mit den Vätern von Ravi Coltrane und Matthew Garrison und auch das Programm von „In Movement“ wird mit Coltranes erschütternder, unverändert relevanter Elegie „Alabama“ eröffnet. Ein weiterer Klassiker ist mit „Blue in Green“ von Miles Davis und Bill Evans vertreten (Jack ist einer der wenigen Musiker, der in den Bands beider Männer spielte), genauso wie “Serpentine Fire” aus dem Repertoire von Earth, Wind and Fire – ein Tribut an Maurice White, mit dem Jack ebenfalls in frühen Jahren zusammenarbeitete. Das Stück „The Two Jimmys“ ist eine Hommage an die beiden Innovatoren Jimi Hendrix und Jimmy Garrison, „Rashied“ ehrt den späten Rashied Ali, einen weiteren großartigen Schlagzeuger aus Coltranes Kosmos. Trotz all dieser Referenzen handelt es sich hierbei tatsächlich um eine Band in Bewegung, die die Musik unermüdlich weiterentwickelt, was schon der Albumtitel suggeriert. Ravi Coltrane und Matt Garrison, die hier jeweils ihr ECM-Debüt geben, harmonieren beide perfekt mit DeJohnettes treibendem Schlagzeugspiel – Ravi mit grandiosen Soli, Garrison mit schlanken Basslinien und erfindungsreicher Looping-Elektronik. Jack DeJohnette: „Wir drei sind auf einem extrem hohen und sehr persönlichen Level mit einander verbunden und ich glaube, dass dies auch in der Musik spürbar ist. “ In Movement wurde im Oktober 2015 in den Avatar Studios, New York, aufgenommen und von Manfred Eicher produziert.

Featured Artists

Jack DeJohnetteDrums, Piano, Electronic Percussion
Ravi ColtraneTenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone
Matthew GarrisonElectric Bass, Electronics

Recorded

October 2015, Avatar Studios, New York

Original Release Date

06.05.2016

1Alabama
(John Coltrane)06:51
2In Movement
(Jack DeJohnette, Matthew Garrison, Ravi Coltrane)09:21
3Two Jimmys
(Jack DeJohnette, Matthew Garrison, Ravi Coltrane)08:14
4Blue In Green
(Miles Davis)05:57
5Serpentine Fire
(Maurice White, Reginald Burke, Verdine White)09:02
6Lydia
(Jack DeJohnette)04:46
7Rashied
(Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane)05:48
8Soulful Ballad
(Jack DeJohnette)04:22

Jack DeJohnette, Matthew Garrison and Ravi Coltrane negotiate a number of different paths on In Movement, constantly looking to explore beyond the accepted boundaries of their craft. With tributes and nods to friends no longer living, from Davis and Evans to Hendrix or another legendary drummer, Rashied Ali (on ‘Rashied’, a track that flirts with free jazz and showcases both DeJohnette and Coltrane at their best), not to mention the quasi-familial ties between the three musicians, the album is infused with the weight of history, without suffering under so much past. Instead, it’s as fresh and innovative as any of the best jazz out there in 2016, and a wonderful testament to DeJohnette’s multifaceted talents.

Joseph Burnett, Dusted

If one is unaware of all the familial and historic connotations here, one would still love this kinetic project with one master and two disciples who have grown into being the kind of forward-thinking jazz stars for their own generation, the type that their parents would've been so proud of.

Mike Greenblatt, Classicalite

A sublime version of Bill Evans' 'Blue In Green' (from Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album) is a disc highlight, with DeJohnette contributing some eloquent piano work. The Earth Wind and Fire tune 'Serpentine Fire' may be an unusual choice for this kind of group, but the arrangement works excellently. DeJohnette's lovely ballad 'Lydia' (written for his wife) provides a calm interlude before the fiery 'Rashied' (named after John Coltrane's last drummer, Rashied Ali). This track is a tour-de-force, with Ravi piping high on the rare sopranino saxophone, and DeJohnette flailing marvellously at the drumkit. Jack's peaceful 'Soulful Ballad' wraps up the disc beautifully. Strongly recommended.

John Watson, Jazz Camera

Gleich der erste Titel ‚Alabama‘ sorgt für Gänsehaut. Ravi Coltrane scheut nicht das Risiko und besteht den wagemutigen Vergleich mit dem Vater, der seine berührend schöne Ballade 1963 bewusst als Kontrapunkt zum vom Rassismus gezeichneten US-Südstaat so getauft hatte. ‚In Movement‘ ist aber nicht nur eine Hommage an den übergroßen Saxofonisten, es ist auch eine an die Musiker seiner letzten Jahre […] Musik voller Seele, die nicht nur Coltrane-Nostalgiker berühren dürfte.

Reiner H. Nitschke, Fono Forum

On ne compte plus les trios extraordinaires auxquels le batteur Jack DeJohnette a participé. Celui-ci en fait indiscutablement partie. C’est avec les fils respectifs de John Coltrane et Jimmy Garrison (avec lesquels DeJohnette a jammé il y plus de cinquante ans) que le batteur aborde un répertoire inspiré par ses sidemen et leur héritage. Ravi Coltrane affirme d’emblée sa maturité dans le remake d’ ’Alabama’ […] Matthew Garrison, tout en méandres et arpèges, les baguettes de DeJohnette et l’électronique ajoutée font pleuvoir sur cette lente déploration de fines poussières sonores.

Jean-Pierre Vidal, Jazz Magazine

Mit Saxofonist Ravi Coltrane, der selten so inspiriert zu hören ist wie hier, und Bassist Matthew Garrison treibt er schwerelos über eine Ebene akustischer und elektronischer Assoziationen, die einander durchwehen wie sanfte Winde aus unterschiedlichen Richtungen. Alles an dieser CD ist leicht und transparent, lichtdurchflutet und sehnsuchtsvoll.

Wolf Kampmann, Eclipsed

US drummer Jack DeJohnette’s trio reconfigure recent jazz history into a rich, forward-looking, spiritual aesthetic.

Mike Hobart, Financial Times

Eine inspirierte, feinsinnige Gratwanderung zwischen ‚in and out‘, traditionellen Song-Formen und dramaturgisch immer sinnvollen, dringenden, aber transparenten freien Ausbrüchen […] – Musik mit einem schmelzheißen Kern unter cooler Oberfläche. Ein Meisterwerk.

Peter Rüedi, Die Weltwoche

Classic covers include the Coltrane civil rights hymn Alabama and the dreamy Kind of Blue ballad Blue in Green, but this is a thoroughly contemporary set in its fusion of Ravi Coltrane’s lyricism (often on the piercing, silvery-toned sopranino sax), Garrison’s rockish bass sound and electronics, and DeJohnette’s dramatic punctuation. […] It’s a partnership that gets the best out of its powerful participants.

John Fordham, The Guardian

Bei allen klassischen Referenzen, Ravi Coltrane (51) und Matt Garrison (45) sind keine Klone ihrer berühmten Väter. Beide haben sich längst emanzipiert, haben ihre eigene Sprache gefunden und sind Meister ihres Fachs. Das neue Trio verklärt denn auch nicht den Geist der vergangenen Tage, sondern übersetzt ihn in die heutige Zeit. Das ist Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft zugleich.

Stefan Künzli, Schweiz am Sonntag

Somewhere in jazz heaven, the cats are smiling.

Mac Randall, Jazz Times (Editor’s Pick)

Despite the grand shadows cast by their forebears, In Movement shows how both Ravi and Matthew have emerged as distinct instrumentalists on the contemporary jazz scene. And they have skills that match up with DeJohnette's own. No one in this group has to run from history, or overly fetishize it, in order to sound like an individual—a shared skill that makes In Movement a frequently spellbinding experience.

Seth Colter walls, Pitchfork.com

Dieser, unter der Regie von Manfred Eicher in den New Yorker Avatar Studios aufgenommene Geniestreich – für Ravi Coltrane und Matthew Garrison das ECM-Debut, während Jack DeJohnette seit Ewigkeiten zu den Topstars des Münchner Labels zählt – ist mit Sicherheit ein Top-Anwärter für das ‚Album des Jahres‘.

Peter Füssl, Kultur

Für das neue Album 'In Movement' (ECM) hat er nun mit dem Saxofonisten Ravi Coltrane (Sohn des übermächtigen John) und dem E-Bassisten und Experimental-Elektroniker Matthew Garrison (Sohn des Coltrane-Begleiters Jimmy) ein Trio zusammengestellt, das [...] die gesamte Geschichte der schwarzen Musik einer neuen Interpretation unterzieht. Die Behutsamkeit, mit der sie so unterschiedliche Vorlagen wie John Coltranes 'Alabama' oder 'Serpentine Fire' von Earth, Wind & Fire von jeglichem Kontext befreien, darf nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass 'In Movement' eine der fundiertesten Auseinandersetzungen mit dem ist, was Jazz auch in Zeiten der Retro-Seligkeit und elektronischen Möglichkeiten eben immer noch sein kann: ein Befreiungsschlag, ein Aufbruch. Auch wenn 'In Movement' keine Grenzen einreißt, sondern Kreise schließt.

Andrian Kreye, Süddeutsche Zeitung

Preuve ultime que le boss d’ECM, entouré des ses techniciens, est un véritable sounddesigner et, dans ce cas, le quatrième membre du groupe.

Louis Victor, Jazz News

All you have to do is listen to the opening strains of their version of Papa’s ‘Alabama’ to get the gist of the futuristic modality these three men bring out here. Together, this incredible cross generational trio ushers in this great jazz legacy into the now with an incorporation of electronics that offers a nod to the skills of the youngest member of the esteemed Coltrane/McLeod clan, ‘Flying Lotus’, thanks to the laptop knowhow of bassist Garrison. The trio even does a beautiful meditation on Miles Davis’ ‘Blue In Green’, a loving homage to both Ravi’s pops and Jack’s old charge in the same cool breath. ‘In Movement’ is, in a word, magnificent.

Ron Hart, NY Observer

Zum Einstieg klingt John Coltranes ‚Alabama‘ noch recht werkgetreu, wenn auch mit durchgehend spannungsreichem Puls statt mit swingender Originalwendung. Spannung und Atmosphäre bleiben (zwischen freien Sechzigern und dunkler Davis-Fusion) die entscheidenden Motive, wobei zu Coltranes großzügig und bis ins hellste Sopranino schweifenden Linien nicht nur elegant unruhige Drums und ein geschmeidiger Bass, sondern auch kühle, kluge elektronische Effekte kommen.

Markus Schneider, Rolling Stone (German Edition)

Haunting saxophone statements and growling, harmonically wayward bass lines mesh uneasily (in a very good way) with murky electronics and spluttery percussion in a compelling set that’s decidedly adventurous and sympathetically recorded. Brilliantly unexpected stuff, all in all.

Roger Thomas, BBC Music Magazine

‘In Movement’ is an album that showcases the collective brilliance of three players who have honed their craft as a band through a lengthy period of touring, leaving plenty of room for meaty, explorative improvisations with a set of tunes that showcases the strength of each individual adding to the collective whole. The album certainly is one of Jack DeJohnette’s strongest statements in the last decade in a career filled with so many milestones.

CJ Shearn, Jazz Views

The title track ‘In Movement’ starts with Garrison's bass, and then a repeated note from piano or electronics, which is present throughout the rest of the tune, adding to the tension. Another dark tune, this grows and grows. DeJohnette plays with immense dynamism, both powerfully and subtly. Coltrane solos with engaging fluency and intensity. Garrison's bass, mostly in background, develops into a solo too, essential to the balance of the tune. That balance is present throughout the record: whilst Coltrane’s virtuosity and DeJohnette’s energetic delivery are to the fore, Garrison’s playing is crucial to the trio’s success. For all its nods to the past, this record is very much of the present.

Patrick Hadfield, London Jazz News

While connecting strongly with the tradition, De Johnette, Coltrane and Garrison are here far more progressive than conservative. The set comprises three arrangements and five original works that free-flow between definitive song form and innovative individual exploration. Their 20-year collaboration is at once understood in this perfectly cohesive recording.

Jason Balzarano, Jazz Journal

The title track earns both its status and its title with an energetic cross-pollination of sounds and styles that acknowledges the past while diving straight into the future. The trio also pays homage to favorites and forebears, opening the record with a lovely take on John Coltrane’s Civil Rights-era statement ‘Alabama,’ and adding even more gorgeous textures to Miles Davis’ masterwork ‘Blue in Green.’ Most intriguingly, the threesome takes on Earth Wind & Fire’s roiling funkfest ‘Serpentine Fire.’ Slowing the tempo down while keeping the groove in motion, the band lets Garrison lead with busy basswork, while Coltrane splashes soprano lines across the arrangement and DeJohnette switches between laying back and blasting out. The trio also adds some electronic dots and loops here and there, but they’re barely noticeable. Instead the group uses its sparse arrangements to its advantage, giving each other room to flourish without overstepping their boundaries into ostentatiousness […] The result is a record teeming with fiery performances and nuanced compositions that, no matter how frenetic things get, never stops being beautiful.

Michael Toland, Blurt Online

Both heirs of creative giants, Coltrane and Garrison live in a different time and have done the work of finding their own identities. They’re now among the most compelling voices of their generation. The rapport they find with DeJohnette is at once powerful and seemingly effortless.

David R. Adler, New York City Jazz Record

Their improvisational abilities are at a razor-sharp peak right now, and of course producer Manfred Eicher and ECM Records makes sure the sound quality is other-worldly. There is a brooding quality to much of this music, but it’s one that doesn’t impart despair. […] The trio also has the future on their mind, as Garrison adds subtle electronic tones so it always feels very much inside the music. What they accomplish on John Coltrane’s ‘Alabama,’ Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘Serpentine Fire’ and their own originals is among the best jazz being played today.

Bill Bentley, The Morton Report

“Jack DeJohnette, who as a drummer-bandleader has rarely drawn hard distinctions between searching and finding, recently formed a trio of compatible ideals. Featuring Ravi Coltrane on saxophones and Matt Garrison on electric bass, it’s both earthy and elastic, capable of sneaking in and out of song form, disinclined to rush toward resolution…” — Nate Chinen, The New York Times

There is a lot of history concentrated in the new trio led by Jack DeJohnette. Fifty years ago, as a young drummer sitting in with John Coltrane’s group, he played with the fathers of both Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison. Ravi, an accomplished saxophonist in his own right nowadays, not only had an iconic father but also the questing keyboardist-harpist Alice Coltrane as his mother. Matthew, bassist and electronic experimentalist, is the son of Jimmy Garrison, the bassist of the classic Coltrane quartet. For In Movement, their first album together, DeJohnette, Coltrane and Garrison touch upon multiple legacies, starting with that of John Coltrane. The recording begins with a distinctive treatment of his ever-moving Civil Rights Era elegy “Alabama,” a version that balances reverence with independence. The trio also abstracts the impressionistic “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans (with DeJohnette one of the few musicians to have played in the bands of both men). There’s also “Serpentine Fire” from the hit ’70s R&B songbook of Earth, Wind & Fire; it serves as a funky tribute to the group’s late leader, Maurice White, who also collaborated with DeJohnette in their early years. There are original homages, too: “The Two Jimmy’s” nods doubly to fellow innovators Jimmy Garrison and Jimi Hendrix, while “Rashied” salutes the late, great Rashied Ali, the drummer of Coltrane’s free-minded late period.

Yet for all the album’s wealth of historical references, the trio of DeJohnette, Coltrane and Garrison is a forward-looking band, their ears sharply attuned to the possibilities of 21st-century sound. Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, each making his ECM debut, respond magnificently to DeJohnette’s driving grooves and colour-rich cymbal play. Ravi provides cascading solos, while Garrison adds growling lines on five-string electric bass guitar as well as atmospheric, looping electronics. DeJohnette says of his trio mates: “We are connected at a very high, extremely personal level that I believe comes through in the music.” The three musicians have long histories together, with DeJohnette serving as something of a second father to Matthew and mentoring Ravi at length, too. They first performed as a trio for a one-off show at the Brooklyn Museum in 1992. Twenty years later, they reunited for a series of exploratory rehearsals and concerts, eventually convening in New York’s Avatar Studios with ECM’s Manfred Eicher, whose galvanizing role as producer helped shape the trio’s free-flowing performative chemistry into a wonderfully cohesive, allusive studio statement.

“The sound and synergy of the group is our three voices coming together, collectively, acoustically and electronically,” DeJohnette says. Riffing on the trio’s family connections, Jack adds that the bond is not only musical but also spiritual. “Matthew lived with me in his teen years,” the drummer points out. “He used to stay down in the basement and practice, and I’d work with him, tell him to listen to this, that and the other. Then he went to the Berklee School of Music and, consequently, got hired by Gary Burton. Matthew went on to be a composer and work with some top names in jazz: Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, John McLaughlin. He and Ravi are now seasoned musicians, moving into their next phase of development as creative artists. Matt has a great use of time and space. We do a lot of experiments with electronics, which Matthew uses to create layers, arpeggios and loops. He’s always coming up with something fresh. Ravi has a unique sound on tenor, soprano and, now for the first time on record, the sopranino. He’s got great intuition and his own way of playing, rhythmically and harmonically. Ravi and Matthew are aware of their heritage, but part of the intention of their music is to be recognized for who they are – and that’s already apparent. That’s why I play with them, because they have their own voices.”

Ravi, reflecting on the Coltrane and Davis interpretations, says: “It’s great to be able to play ‘Alabama’ and ‘Blue in Green.’ It’s a pleasure to play any classic music like that, but the goal is to find how our own voices fit within those songs. They’re flexible enough to not think of them as songs tied to the past. So much beautiful music has been laid down, but to strictly re-create things is not what we’re here for.” About his approach to hallowed material, Matthew adds: “The use of electronics gives me an opportunity to re-imagine how I hear those compositions. I like to be able to take those things and filter them through my own processes and then have that bounce off Ravi and Jack, so that the music becomes this series of undulating movements.”

Along with the trio composition “Two Jimmy’s,” that sense of undulating movements marks the aptly named title track, also written by the trio. The same truth-in-advertising goes for “Soulful Ballad,” which finds DeJohnette playing his composition on his other prime instrument, the piano. (He led a piano trio from the keyboard in his early Chicago days.) Another lyrical number penned by DeJohnette, “Lydia,” is dedicated to his wife. He says: “It has become a mainstay in our repertoire. Lydia has a very special place in our hearts, of course, so the song evokes a lot of feeling, and beauty.”

One of the album’s hottest performances is the duet composition “Rashied,” featuring Ravi keening on sopranino over DeJohnette’s roiling, circular drum patterns à la Ali. About the track’s inspiration, the saxophonist says: “Rashied Ali was an incredible man, an incredible drummer, and somebody who affected us personally in a very deep way. Rashied was like a second father to me, just as Jack has become like a second father to me.” DeJohnette adds: “It was influenced by the Interstellar Space duo album by John Coltrane and Rashied. That vibe, and Rashied’s energy, comes through our piece.” Matthew notes that the two players got a standing ovation from the crew in Avatar while recording it. DeJohnette recalls: “I said, ‘Let’s play “Rashied”,’ and all of a sudden, boom! Ravi got the sopranino, and we took off – he was on fire.”

In his New York Times review of a Brooklyn show by the trio just before they went into the studio, Nate Chinen praised Ravi’s “impassioned… heroic voice.” The critic also extolled Matthew’s “expressionistic use of color and texture.” Chinen described the group’s hard-grooving interpretation of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Serpentine Fire” – which ended up as a highlight of In Movement – as “smart, slanted… snake-like, evoking Mr. DeJohnette’s jazz-funk shift with Miles Davis.” Remarkably, the 73-year-old drummer – who has logged more studio time for ECM than any other musician over nearly five decades – plays with the energy and acuity of a musician less than half his age, laying down a deep, sophisticated backbeat on “Serpentine Fire.” He remains a kinetic marvel, his rare combination of power and grace reminding one of what Miles Davis said in his autobiography about DeJohnette’s playing on Bitches Brew: “Jack gave me a deep groove that I just loved to play over.”

Musing upon the studio experience with Ravi and Matthew, DeJohnette says: “I’m inspired by what we did – we got into some amazing sonic grooves. It’s a continuation, a moving of our music forward – music that’s not locked into any one genre. I know I haven’t heard any combination like this. There’s the past and the present and the future in what we’re doing.”