JACK DeJOHNETTE : Another Aspect of Improvisation

“There’s a constant underpinning spirit that goes through whatever I do,” said Jack DeJohnette, the veteran drummer whose debut Blue Note album, “Earth Walk,” features his Special Edition band.

“I’m just hoping people come to the music openly, without preconceived notions. We’re offering another aspect of spontaneous improvisation,” he said.

The limber, challenging brand of improvisation DeJohnette has fashioned since forming Special Edition in 1978 has made it one of the most acclaimed groups in jazz. Three previous albums were named best of the year in the Downbeat critics poll. “Earth Walk” has already won a similar honor from a jazz journal in Japan, where it was released last fall.

“Earth Walk” displays a more restrained, atmospheric side to the group’s playing and DeJohnette’s compositions. Several pieces were inspired by environmental and spiritual themes. The title track employs the “animal cries” of American Indian vocalist Joan Henry over the riffing of saxophonists Greg Osby and Gary Thomas.

Osby and Thomas are the latest in a long line of highly regarded young horn players DeJohnette has recruited--alumni include David Murray, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe and John Purcell.

“I could write (for those guys) and take it any direction I wanted to,” DeJohnette explained. “I liked their particular approaches, and their voices come through.

“That’s one of the most important characteristics of this music--personality. That voice comes through you, and somehow it transcends categories and goes right to the heart of the matter.”

DeJohnette, 49, began playing piano as a youth in Chicago and still composes on the keyboard. He added drums to his repertoire when he was a teen-ager, and his versatile, forceful style has kept him in demand since the mid-’60s. Among his major credits are performances with Miles Davis during his groundbreaking fusion period 20 years ago, the “Parallel Realities” album collaboration with Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock and the “Standards” trio with Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock.

DeJohnette has also maintained a career as a leader, coining the term multidirectional to describe a style employing the jazz tradition as foundation while remaining open to exploring any kind of music. The musician just finished a recording with members of Special Edition, hard-rock group Living Colour, guitarist John Scofield and several vocalists.

“There’s an integration of Native American music, reggae, shades of rock and heavy metal and some world-music stuff,” DeJohnette said of the new venture. “I’m always taking diversified elements and integrating them into a thread.”