Captain Jack.

To mark the 70th birthday of the brilliant drummer, bandleader and composer Jack DeJohnette, a quick post featuring two somewhat offbeat videos, since you've probably seen a lot of Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett footage elsewhere.

First, my favorite of DeJohnette's original compositions, "Silver Hollow" (not "Hallow," as the clip is labeled), recorded in 1978 by his New Directions quartet with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie and Eddie Gomez. It's slightly perverse to highlight a clip in which DeJohnette doesn't play drums, but his piano here is just gorgeous.

There's plenty of DeJohnette's drumming, though mostly kept to a simmer, in this video of a 1997 performance with Bill Laswell's Transmutations, which also features free-improv guitar titan Derek Bailey and DJ Disk. Beautifully recorded and filmed at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival, this readily demonstrates DeJohnette's breadth and sensitivity. (There's more on YouTube; the second of the four posts includes a tight DeJohnette solo at the 8:40 mark.)

Happy birthday, Mr. DeJohnette. Thanks again for being so gracious when I came up to speak with you, all tongue-tied and starstruck, after your Special Edition gig at the Caravan of Dreams back in 1987.