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Ravi Coltrane I EXCLUSIVE Marian McPartland Book Excerpt DOWNBEAT JACK DEJOHNETTE JACK // RAVI RAVI C OLT R ANE // Jack MA R IAN MCPA IAN DeJohnette’s R TLAN D BIG SOUND // JOEL JOEL Joel Harrison H A rr Endless Guitar ISON // BILLY D BILLY Drum School » Billy Drummond R U mm BLINDFOLD TEST ON D » Bill Stewart TRANSCRIPTION » Tommy Igoe MASTER CLASS » Dan Weiss PRO SESSION NOVEMBER 2012 U.K. £3.50 NOVE M B E R 2012 DOWNBEAT.COM NOVEMBER 2012 VOLUME 79 – NuMBER 11 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Managing Editor Bobby Reed News Editor Hilary Brown Reviews Editor Aaron Cohen Contributing Editors Ed Enright Zach Phillips Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. Haven Road Elmhurst, IL 60126–2970 630-941-2030 / Fax: 630-941-3210 http://downbeat.com [email protected] CUSTOMER SERVICE 877-904-5299 [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors: Michael Bourne, John McDonough Atlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Michael Point, Kevin Whitehead; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank-John Hadley; Chicago: John Corbett, Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Denver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe Woodard; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Or- leans: Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New York: Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene Gologursky, Norm Harris, D.D. Jackson, Jimmy Katz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Dan Ouellette, Ted Panken, Richard Seidel, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian, Michael Weintrob; North Carolina: Robin Tolleson; Philadelphia: David Adler, Shaun Brady, Eric Fine; San Francisco: Mars Breslow, Forrest Bryant, Clayton Call, Yoshi Kato; Seattle: Paul de Barros; Tampa Bay: Philip Booth; Washington, D.C.: Willard Jenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Belgium: Jos Knaepen; Canada: Greg Buium, James Hale, Diane Moon; Den- mark: Jan Persson; France: Jean Szlamowicz; Germany: Detlev Schilke, Hyou Vielz; Great Britain: Brian Priestley; Japan: Kiyoshi Koyama; Portugal: Antonio Rubio; Romania: Virgil Mihaiu; Russia: Cyril Moshkow; South Africa: Don Albert. Jack Maher, President 1970-2003 John Maher, President 1950-1969 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Send orders and address changes to: DOWNBEAT, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. Inquiries: U.S.A. and Canada (877) 904- 5299; Foreign (651) 251-9682. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please allow six weeks for your change to become effective. When notifying us of your new address, include current DOWNBEAT label showing old address. DOWNBEAT (issn 0012-5768) Volume 79, Number 11 is published monthly by Maher Publications, 102 N. Haven, Elmhurst, IL 60126-2970. Copyright 2012 Maher Publica- tions. All rights reserved. Trademark registered U.S. Patent Office. Great Britain regis- tered trademark No. 719.407. Periodicals postage paid at Elmhurst, IL and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: $34.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years. Foreign subscriptions rates: $56.95 for one year, $103.95 for two years. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or art- work. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from publisher. MAHER PUBLICATIONS: DOWNBEAT magazine, MUSIC INC. magazine, UpBeat Daily. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale October 16, 2012) Magazine Publishers Association. Á NOVEMBER 2012 ON THE COVER 24 Jack DeJohnette Unconventional Wisdom BY THOMAS STAUDTER For those enthralled with the art of improvisation, there is but one “Jack,” and the name denotes a multidimensional jazz artist and iconic collaborator. The world- famous drummer’s accolade as an NEA Jazz Master, his new album Sound Travels (eOne) RESS and his milestone 70th birthday P have helped to shine a spotlight T. MARtin’s MARtin’s T. 36 S on his creative instigations as a bandleader. Family and friends at a Chicago jam session, circa 1948. From left: Jim Lanigan (bass), Dick Lanigan (holding microphone), Jim Lanigan Jr. (bass clarinet), Floyd Town (tenor saxophone), Jimmy McPartland (cornet), Dick McPartland (guitar) and Marian McPartland (piano) FEATURES MARIAN MCPARTLAND/ COURTESY Cover photo of Jack DeJohnette shot by Jimmy and Dena Katz in New York City. 30 Ravi Coltrane Another Type of Energy BY JOSEF WOODARD 36 Marian McPartland & the Golden Age of Jazz AN EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM PAUL DE bARROS’ nEW MCPARTLAND BIOGRAPHY, SHALL WE PLAY THat ONE TOGETHER? 50 Josh Berman & His Gang 55 Keith Jarrett 61 Sara Gazarek 66 Bobby Sanabria Big Band 42 Joel Harrison Always Searching BY DAN OUELLETTE DEPARTMENTS DRUM SCHOOL 8 First Take 47 Reviews 68 Pro Session BY DAN WEISS 10 Chords & Discords 78 Jazz On Campus 13 The Beat 82 Blindfold Test 70 Master Class Billy Drummond BY TOMMY IGOE 20 Players Chris Dingman 72 Transcription Ithamara Koorax Josh Sinton 74 Toolshed Senri Oe 6 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2012 First Take | BY BOBBY REED Beyond Categorization hat’s Beyond? That question might sound like a philosophical quandary about the universe and the afterlife. But on a more mundane level, it’s a question that’s commonly directed at WDownBeat editors, whether we’re covering jazz festivals, working at press conferences or perusing the magazine’s Facebook comments. The slogan Jazz, Blues & Beyond—inspired by Duke Ellington’s onstage introduc- tions of his band members as “beyond category”—first appeared on the cover of the April 1990 issue of One step Beyond: DownBeat, and it’s been there The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach (left) ever since. Folks who don’t reg- recording with Dr. John (far right) ularly read our magazine some- times ask, “What exactly do you mean by Beyond music?” It’s a fair question. One sim- ple answer is that Beyond means improvised music that cannot be neatly categorized as jazz or blues. The term Beyond is inten- tionally vague and serves us well because it encompasses an immense spectrum. A mythi- cal, cloud-based Beyond jukebox LYSSE GAFKJEN LYSSE might include Booker T. Jones, A Dave Matthews Band, Common, Kelly Hogan, The Black Keys, Deadmau5, Adele, Phish, Laurie Anderson and Kanye West. This magic jukebox also would have gospel, bluegrass, samba, Celtic, calypso, r&b, techno, reggae, mambo, Americana and plen- ty of rock ’n’ roll, as well as examples of traditional music from every cor- ner of the globe. And recordings of whale songs. And let’s not forget Björk, Nina Simone, Hugh Masekela, Tom Waits, Tinariwen and New Orleans icon Dr. John, whose music has defied pigeonholing for decades. Beyond is a big ol’ umbrella. It’s a happy, inclusive place. Like a censorship board member who’s been asked to define pornogra- phy (“I know it when I see it”), some DownBeat readers will say that they can’t precisely describe Beyond music, but they immediately recognize it when they hear it. Some concrete answers to the great Beyond question are supplied every August and December by our respective Critics and Readers Poll results. In recent years, our critics have reached far and wide to name the following as the Beyond Artist or Group of the Year: the Robert Glasper Experiment (jazz meets neo-soul), the Carolina Chocolate Drops (21st century string band music) and Neko Case (country meets indie rock). Our readers, meanwhile, have voted to honor the virtuosity of longtime DownBeat favorites Jeff Beck and Medeski Martin & Wood. The DownBeat Hall of Fame also provides a couple of clues as to what constitutes Beyond. Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa are in our Hall of Fame not because they are jazz giants, but because they were unique artists who contributed to humankind’s understanding of what music could be. Beyond music typically incorporates improvisation as a major compo- nent, but that’s not always the case. In this year’s Critics Poll, the Beach Boys’ historic The Smile Sessions landed at No. 11 on the list of top Beyond Albums—even though Brian Wilson’s meticulous arranging and studio songcraft could be called the antithesis of improvisation. Next month’s issue of DownBeat will contain the surprising results of our 2012 Readers Poll, which had the largest voter turnout in the maga- zine’s history. These results are another affirmation that despite the eco- nomic problems musicians face today, fans have access to a plethora of awe-inspiring Jazz, Blues & Beyond recordings—the majority of which are just a click away on your keyboard. Let the exploration begin anew. DB 8 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2012 Chords Discords Print Gremlins, Oh My: The October issue of DownBeat included a feature on John Abercrombie titled “The Moment Looks for You.” Due to a printing error, some of the words in the feature’s title were illegible on page 33 of our print edition. (This error did not appear in our digital edition.) The image above shows how the title text should have appeared in the magazine. DownBeat regrets the error. Music City Artistry readers. That’s what makes DownBeat such a When I traveled up to this year’s Chicago great magazine. So please, do better next time! Jazz Festival, I had every intention of finding RICK MEEK DownBeat Publisher Frank Alkyer and saying [email protected] to him, “You know, there aren’t a lot of stories for DownBeat that come out of Nashville, but Winning Gold you might want to do a little thing on Jeff Cof- Your article on pianist Bill Evans (“The Softer fin and his current group.” But I didn’t get the Side of the Revolution,” September)—by chance.