DeJohnette & Co. : He’s Outdone Himself by Teaming Up With Hancock, Metheny and Holland

Drummer Jack DeJohnette has always shown a talent for assembling great bands. But this time, he’s outdone himself.

When DeJohnette appears tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Saturday as part of the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, he will be in the company of keyboardist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Dave Holland, a formidable quartet consisting of some of the most important names to emerge from the jazz world in the last 20 years.

The group, minus Holland, has been praised for DeJohnette’s recent release, “Parallel Realities,” an accessible, yet forward-looking recording that features Metheny’s cool guitar licks and Hancock’s sophisticated acoustic piano work, all balanced with DeJohnette’s slash-and-burn drumming. The album is a joint effort by the drummer and the guitarist, who shared the production credit and song-writing duties. The two have frequently worked together, with DeJohnette appearing on Metheny’s tribute to the music of Ornette Coleman, “Song X,” as well as the guitarist’s double album, “80/81.”

Often labeled an avant-garde musician, DeJohnette hopes “Parallel Realities” might change some of that thinking. “Pat and I kind of reversed roles as composers on this,” DeJohnette said last week from Scottsdale, Ariz., where the quartet was opening a 15-city tour. “I wrote compositions for this album that people will more likely associate with Pat, and he wrote some darker things that people will probably associate with me.”

Though DeJohnette has played with Hancock in the past, this is the first time they have recorded together. The drummer has been heard to claim that his compatriots on the recording are bigger names than he is.

“It’s just a fact I was stating,” he said. “These guys have had hit records. They have bigger audiences than I do and rightfully so. I’m hoping this will give me an opportunity to pick up access to a wider audience, get more people aware of who Jack DeJohnette is.”

DeJohnette, an accomplished keyboardist who released an album of piano work in 1985, pulls double duty on the album. “We used digital technology with sequencers and such and synthesized bass to set up the backdrop for all the compositions. I had originally conceived the recording as a trio of Herbie, Pat and myself. Since the sophistication of modern music technology has come such a long way in the last 10 years, it gave me the option of being the bass player. The bass parts on the album are just function, serving an anchoring purpose.”

But live performances don’t allow for such luxuries. Enter bassist Dave Holland, whose association with DeJohnette goes back to 1970 when the two played in the Miles Davis band, recording together on Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” “Live at the Filmore” and “Live/Evil.” More recently, the drummer appeared on Holland’s excellent 1988 release, “Triplicate.” (Holland also appears on Metheny’s new release, “Question and Answer.”) The bassist, who, like DeJohnette, lives in Woodstock, N.Y., hadn’t played electric since those long-gone days with Davis. “But,” said DeJohnette, “he’s got a nice, new electric bass now and he’s playing his butt off.”

What were those times together in the Davis band like? “Oh, it was exciting, man,” said DeJohnette. “Exhilarating. Challenging. We couldn’t wait to play. Miles developed our talents by allowing us to progress naturally, having us play his music and accept the responsibility that goes with discipline and freedom. He learned from us, and we learned from him.”

DeJohnette first came to public attention with the landmark Charles Lloyd quartet of the mid-’60s that also included bassist Cecil McBee and keyboardist Keith Jarrett. He began recording under his own name for Milestone in the late ‘60s (“Complex,” “Have You Heard?”), but it was his series of recordings for the ECM label, beginning in 1976, that established him as a band leader and composer. Under the names “Directions,” “New Directions” and “Special Edition,” DeJohnette’s groups have included the likes of saxophonists Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman and David Murray, as well as trumpeter Lester Bowie, guitarist John Abercrombie and bassist Eddie Gomez.

His last Special Edition album, 1988’s “Audio Visualscapes,” includes hot young saxophonists Greg Osby and Gary Thomas. In addition to his own projects, DeJohnette finds time to perform with Jarrett’s acclaimed Standards Trio that includes bassist Gary Peacock, who appeared 20 years ago on the drummer’s album “Have You Heard?.”

DeJohnette said that one of his objectives with the “Parallel Realities” project was to help him shed some of the labels that have been attached to him over the years. “Dave Holland and I both are looked at as avant-garde musicians and that connotation, to a lot of people, means our music is out, free, chaotic, that it doesn’t make sense. But the music on this album is very melodic, and the compositions are much simpler than the ones generally associated with me.”

Jack DeJohnette with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Dave Holland appear tonight) at 8 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $15 to $35. Information: (714) 556-2787.