Jack DeJohnette, Drums, 1942, Chicago, IL
From the age of four, Jack studied piano for ten years. He was playing rock-and-roll and blues by the time he was in high school. Around this time Jack discovered jazz and before long he was playinf in small local groups. His big influence at this time was Ahmad When he was about 18 years old he began to seriously study the drums, with which he was to remain during his career. Jack was in junior college when he became involved with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, an organisation in which he would maintain an interest for many years to come. Around 1961 performed with John Coltrane who became a major influence in his career. He first came to nationwide attention as a member of the popular Charles Lloyd quartet, with which he recorded and toured extensively for two years. In 1969 he replaced Tony Williams in Miles Davis' group, taking part in the pathbreaking album "Bitches Brew". DeJohnette is a dynamic and widely admired drummer. His major influences were "Philly" Joe Jones, Max Roach, and Elvin Jones. In New York, he also admired the work of Tony Williams. In the 1980s he actually began to play the piano again, revealing a creativity equal to his drumming. From 1975 he has been a director, with his wife, of The Creative Music Agency in Woodstock, New York, a nonprofit enterprise covering all aspects of the music business. In 1981 he published a manual, "The Art of Modern Jazz Drumming".
Nat Jaffe, Piano, 1918, New York, NY
When Nat was two years old he moved, with his family, to Berlin where he took up classical training when he was about 7 years old. They remained in Berlin until the early '30s when they returned to New York. This is about the time Nat developed his love of jazz. In New York he worked with the actress Noel Francis at the Central Park Casino, playing under the bandleader Emery Deutsch. He also formed a group of his own, playing at the Clover Club, and working as a soloist at Mammy's Chicken Coop on 52nd Street. He later played with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Jack Teagarden, and as a soloist at Kelly's Stable. Jaffe also recorded with Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong.
