In Movement (ECM)

Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison

Released May 6, 2016

JazzTimes Top 10 Albums of 2016

AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2016

The Guardian Highest Rated Jazz Albums of All Time

YouTube:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=YmksrygU7ls&list=RDAMVMYmksrygU7ls

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5yj8fr40OGYwODHZKsRJZY?si=9UaEjow4R2WaaVINL5BE3g

About:

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”. “Serpentine Fire” is from the songbook of Earth, Wind and Fire, offered as 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, as the title track affirms. 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.”

Track Listing:

1. Alabama (John Coltrane) 6:51

2. In Movement (Ravi Coltrane / Jack DeJohnette / Matthew Garrison) 9:21

(Ravi Coltrane, Grammy Nominee for Best Improvised Jazz Solo 2017)

3. Two Jimmys (Ravi Coltrane / Jack DeJohnette / Matthew Garrison) 8:14

4. Blue in Green (Miles Davis / Bill Evans) 5:57

5. Serpentine Fire (Reginald Burke / Maurice White / Verdine White) 9:02

6. Lydia (Jack DeJohnette) 4:46

7. Rashied (Ravi Coltrane / Jack DeJohnette) 5:48

8. Soulful Ballad (Jack DeJohnette) 4:22

Personnel:

Jack DeJohnette: drums, piano, electronic percussion

Ravi Coltrane: tenor, soprano and sopranino saxophones

Matthew Garrison: electric bass, electronics

Recorded October 2015, at Avatar Studios, NY

Produced by Manfred Eicher

Engineer: James A. Farber

Assistant Engineer: Akihiro Nishimura

Mastered by Nicolas Baillard

Cover Photo by Woong-Chul An

Design: Sascha Kleis

Review:

Talk about having the weight of history on your back: For the first time on disc, the sons of one half of jazz’s all-time greatest quartet are teaming up with a master drummer who collaborated with both of their fathers. To everyone’s credit, they tackle the legacy issue head-on, opening with a spacious version of John Coltrane’s “Alabama.” Ravi Coltrane’s tenor saxophone playing is just as fluid as his dad’s but more reserved, staying keyed in to the tune’s essential mournfulness. Jack DeJohnette, meanwhile, steers clear of pulse, using the kit to provide splashes of color that expand as the piece progresses. It’s Matthew Garrison who really lights the fire here, stomping on his distortion pedal about five minutes in, then engaging a series of sped-up loops that bring the proceedings to a head.
That initial statement perfectly sets the tone for the seven tracks that follow. Garrison’s chordal approach to the bass and brilliant use of electronic textures make him the prime mover in this group. His thick layers of backwards loops on “Two Jimmys” are particularly memorable, conjuring an atmosphere that feels both sacred and creepy at the same time. Not that his colleagues don’t get plenty of opportunities to shine as well. DeJohnette lays into a groove that’s downright mean on the album’s centerpiece, a freewheeling take on Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Serpentine Fire,” and gets to show off his estimable piano skills on a playful deconstruction of Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green.” And though Coltrane leans toward the reflective throughout, he finally lets loose on “Rashied,” a furious duet with DeJohnette for which he switches to keening sopranino. Somewhere in jazz heaven, the cats are smiling.

Mac Randall (JazzTimes)