Jack DeJohnette is widely regarded as one of jazz music's greatest drummers. His grooves were an integral part of Miles Davis’ seminal Bitches Brew album and he worked with the likes of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock among countless others. While his illustrious career has been marked by great recordings and collaborations for a variety of esteemed labels like Columbia, ECM, Prestige, Landmark, and GRP, many facets of his musical life were never represented on disc until the launch of his imprint, Golden Beams Productions last year. Appropriately titled, Golden Beams Collected, Volume 1, the album highlights the artist’s work in a broad range of areas from jazz to worldbeat, experimental, electronic, and meditation music.

A global jazztronica record in concept and in sound, the album strengthens Jack’s accord with Gambian kora master Foday Musa Suso, while simultaneously drafting Brazilian Indian singer Marlui Miranda, British reedist John Surman and American artists, Bill Frisell and Don Alias. He also gets help from DJ Logic who infuses hip-hop into the music, especially on “Worldwide Funk” that blends shades of African jazz and hip-hop into his already groove-heavy rhythmic patterns. The track features The Ripple Effect, Jack’s side project with composer/producer Ben Surman, who are collectively considered for a Grammy in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category for their album Hybrids. In addition to hard-to-find gems from Jack’s catalog, Golden Beams Collected, Volume 1 also contains “The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers,” by Jack DeJohnette featuring Bill Frisell from their current chart-topping album. DeJohnette’s entire career has been about stretching what fits within jazz constraints. With one of the most impressive resumes in the genre, he is proving once more that no boundaries exist.