The Band wasn’t the only set of music-business legends to take up an abiding and long-term residence in the Woodstock area. When a player and composer of the caliber and standing of Jack DeJohnette called Woodstock home and really meant it, his presence became a homing beacon for the jazz elite, including his brilliant Gateway Trio bandmates Dave Holland and John Abercrombie. A jazz iconoclast of the highest order, DeJohnette has long been a genuine, walking-the-talk community member as well.
On Friday, January 20, DeJohnette will reprise his August solo piano concert with another such performance at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts in Woodstock. While drummers are often (mis)understood to be the most musically specialized members of ensembles, Jack has been composing and releasing significant piano music at least since 1985’s coming-out, The Jack DeJohnette Piano Album. He was also the featured composer on Parallel Realities, a scintillating 1990 record with Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny.
A fundraising benefit for arts and social services in Woodstock, the January performance is dubbed a “Concert for Inner Peace.” Like so many of the players at his level (not that there are very many), DeJohnette has always understood improvisation as a spiritual pursuit with political relevance. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 (general seating) and $75 (first three rows). The Byrdcliffe Kleinert/James Center for the Arts is located at 34 Tinker Street in Woodstock. For more information, visit www.woodstockguild.org.
Join the family! 
