In Memoriam: “Color Wheels” – a poem (for Jack DeJohnette) by Mary K O’Melveny

October 30th, 2025

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Ukberri.net/Uribe Kosta eta Erandioko agerkari digitala, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Jack DeJohnette, 1942-2025

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Color Wheels

…………….I’m like a colorist on the drums
…………………..… Jack DeJohnette (1942-2025)

He painted what he heard in his head
his heart ..his limitless .. timeless soul
each stage an art studio
As if Rothko or Gerhard Richter or Monet
were letting us in on their secrets
warming us as we watched
lush hues of color wash over a canvas
play softly against the light

Master of drums ..of brushes
of airy cymbals ..of a Fazioli piano
electric .. elegant ..eruptive
pushing back against whatever it was
we thought we knew or expected to hear
collaboration was key .. Coltrane ..Davis
Bill Evans .. Keith Jarrett ..Charles Lloyd
Sun Ra ..a kazoo with T-Bone Walker

Everything was new .. each time
every time ..fresh as dawn .. free of time
A backbeat surprised .. a deep groove hushed
An up-tempo swing turned to fireworks
He composed starting from a title
Improvisation was his meditation
If we were in luck we could watch
as textures emerged ..blended ..exploded

Many people remember him best for drums
his percussive genius displayed at Slug’s
Saloon ..the Fillmore .. Lincoln Center
But it was his piano that soothed like prayer
I heard him play one summer night
before a reverential crowd
at Woodstock’s Byrdcliffe Barn
His album “Return” just released

Halfway in a thunderstorm arrived
like a latecomer with front row seats
more explosive than any drum kit
lights flashed flickered went out
We all sat very quietly in the dark
until someone found some candles
He returned to his beloved keys
painted us all a picture of heaven.

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Mary K O’Melveny, retired labor rights lawyer, lives with her wife near Woodstock, NY. Mary became a fan of Jazz as a very young girl listening to Louis Armstrong and Lester Young on her grandparents’ Victrola record player. Mary’s award-nominated poetry appears in many print and on-line literary journals, anthologies and national blog sites. Mary has authored three poetry collections. Her just-released fourth book, Flight Patterns, is available by clicking here

Click here to read If You Want to Go to Heaven, Follow a Songbird – Mary K O’Melveny’s album of poetry and music, published by Jerry Jazz Musician

Click here to visit her web site

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Listen to the 1983 recording of Jack DeJohnette (drums), Keith Jarrett (piano) and Gary Peacock (bass) playing the William Engvick/Morty Palitz/Alec Wilder composition “Moon and Sand.”  [Universal Music Group]

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Listen to the 2015 recording of Jack DeJohnette (on piano) playing the Miles Davis/Bill Evans composition “Blue in Green,” with Ravi Coltrane (saxophone) and Matthew Garrison (bass).  [Universal Music Group]

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