ABSTRACT
Jack DeJohnette, born August 9, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, was introduced to jazz through his uncle who was a disc jockey on a local jazz radio station. He began performing as the lead singer in a doo-wop before taking a more serious interest in jazz piano by high school. DeJohnette found that he had a natural tendency toward the drums when he began practicing a set of drums a friend had left at his house. DeJohnette was mentored early on by saxophonist Pat Patrick and pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music. He first met John Coltrane when he had the opportunity to sit in with his quartet at a local club on Chicago's South Side. In 1968, DeJohnette joined Miles Davis's group, recording the groundbreaking fusion album Bitches Brew, and continued to work with Davis for the next three years.
