Sorcery may not have been Jack DeJohnette’s first performance under his own name, but it marked an important step in his career – from freshman sideman to bandleader. Both the mix of material (full of freedom, texture, electricity, and humor), the personnel, and DeJohnette’s own multi-faceted role as drummer/keyboardist/composer foreshadow the different paths his groups would take over the next two decades. Contributors include Bennie Maupin and Dave Holland, old live and studio partners with Miles Davis, as well as two guitarists who would go on to prominence in later DeJohnette bands: John Abercrombie (Directions and New Directions) and Mick Goodrick.
For “Sorcery,” DeJohnette teamed up with a squad of virtuoso bandmates, including veterans of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew sessions (bassist Dave Holland) and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band (Bennie Maupin).
Discursive, meditative, trippy, but grounded in tasteful grooves (the deep-digger drum break “Epilog”) and infused with Hendrix-on-jazz steroid guitars from 6-string heroes John Abercrombie and Mick Goodrick, and the ahead-of-its-time electronic processing of DeJohnette.
The first comprehensive reissue since the album’s 1974 release available as a limited edition 1LP from 7/14/2023.
Contents:
Sorcery #1
The Right Time
The Rock Thing
The Reverend King Suite:
a) Reverend King /
b) Obstructions /
c) The Fatal Shot /
d) Mourning /
e) Unrest /
f) New
Four Levels Of Joy
Epilog
