“The biggest thrill I got when I was playing in Chicago was the time Coltrane came to town. It was at a place called McKee’s Lounge. I used to go down there to play in the jam sessions. So I was there one night, and Elvin disappeared for the last set. So Coltrane was going to go up, and probably would have gone up without a drummer, but McKee said, ‘Hey Coltrane. Let Jack go on. He comes out and sits in, and he’s a good drummer.’ So Coltrane didn’t even bat an eye. He respected McKee enough to say okay, and we went up and started playing immediately.
“Let me tell you, I was scared shitless— I mean, Coltrane. I held my own, but I was very nervous playing with Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner. That was the most fantastic feeling in my life— playing with Coltrane. And he was like a train. He was like a locomotive. I felt this magnet pulling on me, he just had so much energy. I played three tunes, and I was just about to play My Favorite Things— and I said, wow, I’m going to play My Favorite Things— when Elvin came back [laughter], and said ‘Thank you, baby.’
“When I first heard Elvin play with ‘Trane, using those triplets that could go anywhere against the harmonic structure and the 4/4 beat, I said that’s the shit. And it wasn’t stiff, the feeling of Elvin’s time was so loose and perfect. He’d never rush tempos. If anything he laid back more than he moved ahead. And Elvin had so many other things together that just fit perfectly with what ’Trane was doing, like that dang-du-dang, du-dang-dang cymbal ride.
“That quartet was one of the greatest groups ever. I know some people think that Coltrane was playing anger through his horn, but his music was just very intense. Coltrane’s music is about love to me, and love can be intense and honest, and honesty can be very deep and cutting. To a person who is not in tune, it can appear to be very negative, and very angry. And that’s not what I get out of it. Coltrane’s music is very uplifting—it brings me to the point of tears it’s so powerful. Now he said he saw God at one point; his music was a religious experience to him—a revelation. He saw man and the universe as One, at peace with each other, when he played his horn. He saw peace and harmony in his music—everything was in its right place. His music was a projection of love and peace; it was medicinal; it was a healing force.
“Now that’s one of the things that’s missing in music today. I mean the Art Ensemble has it. That’s why I’ve started to choose those people who have that spirit about them, like Lester Bowie. Cats that have that wisdom. People aren’t reaching for things anymore. There are still a lot of things to reach for.”
– Jack Dejohnette, Downbeat Magazine, November, 1978, interview by Chip Stern
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