Jack DeJohnette is regarded as one of the great drummers of Jazz. He’s played with many of the major talents of the genre; Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock to name just a few. His current project, the Jack DeJohnette Latin Project, unites him with five musicians with superior musical skills: Don Byron - clarinet and tenor sax; Giovanni Hidalgo - congas; Edsel Gomez - piano; Jerome Harris – bass; Luisito Quintero - timbales, percussion. All six played together as if they’d been gigging with each other for years and they played a super-tight, six song set. All of the tunes are heavily Latin influenced numbers – but heavier. Think industrial-strength Latin laid on top of the Jazz.

They started with "You Are #6," a composition of Don Byron’s. DeJohnette opened the song with a very lengthy drum solo warm-up – the piece builds to a musical frenzy…sounding much like an urban streetscape in a bustling metropolis. The interplay between Byron and Gomez was phenomenal as was the drumming between the three percussionists. All three played with seamless mastery to the other – their individual beats complimented the others perfectly.

Next up was "Bayou Man," composed by Edsel Gomez. Hildago opened the tune with a rhythmic and riveting conga solo – the man is lightning fast with his hands. The full band joined in with soaring clarinet work by Byron and a bouncing bass line by Harris. Through the piece, DeJohnette and Hildago traded riffs back and forth – DeJohnette proving throughout that he is a master of syncopated beats; and his foot work with his high-hat and bass drum is mesmerizing.

Following was another Gomez tune, "Coqui Serenade." This was an avant-garde delight that had Gomez leading the way with his wild and unique style – think Jerry Lee Lewis hopped up on jazz steroids. The keys were literally attacked by Gomez with his fingers, fists and even elbows. He was rockin’ and rollin’, while Quintero and Hildago bopped along with their playful percussion-play. Following along Gomez’ left-hand was Harris on bass – matching his line note for note. Tight.

Another Don Byron composition, "Whisper In My Ear," followed and began with a mini drum solo by De Johnette? who once again proved why he’s regarded as the man when it comes to jazz drumming...there is no living peer to this man. And once again, it was a drumming clinic by him and his mastery of syncopated beats and rhythm. Hildago followed him in with more dazzling conga work and Gomez played dissonant notes which had surprising resolve. Byron moved on in with some chirping overtones and brought the song to a close.

"Hand By Hand," composed by bassist Harris was next and featured his wordless vocals. His singing was more a tonal styling and accompaniment rather than song and was very free and airy. The piece had light percussion by all three players and while satisfying, it lacked the intensity of the other songs in the set and was probably the nights weakest offering.

The finale of the show and another Byron composition was "Homegoing." This piece began with a solo by Byron and was his strongest work in the set. In addition, he switched from clarinet to tenor sax within the tune (with some really strong Gomez piano work in between) and DeJohnette performed some stellar stick-work throughout. After this tune, the band had played for just under two hours – an encore would be impossible; these guys had spent it all and the crowd showed their strong appreciation.

The crowd was jazzed up and showed strong admiration for the work of the performers. My problem was with the lack of people attending the show – only half of the hall’s seats were occupied. For those Clevelanders savvy enough to attend the concert, they were well rewarded. Why more people don’t attend the JazzFest’s offerings is beyond me – they consistently bring in the best players which Jazz has to offer. Next year, do yourself a favor – attend one of the shows and tell a friend…you’ll be pleasantly rewarded too. from Cool Cleveland contributor TL Champion and guest TL@coolcleveland.com

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