The Art of the Story

Don't put the late drummer and composer Jack DeJohnette into a jazz category

By Doug Doyle,

Published October 28, 2025 at 9:11 AM EDT

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On this edition of The Art of the Story, WBGO's Sheila Anderson chats with Jack DeJohnette just weeks before the passing of the NEA Jazz Master and legendary drummer, keyboardist and composer.

Jack DeJohnette at 2012 Newport Jazz Festival

Jack DeJohnette, a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship in 2012, the nation’s highest honor for jazz artists, died peacefully at Kingston Hospital in New York on Monday, October 27, surrounded by his wife, family, and close friends, according to a post on his official Facebook page.

Jack DeJohnette on the piano at the 2019 Summerstage

DeJohnette, who told Sheila Anderson in their recent interview that he didn't want to be placed into any jazz category, loved playing at the various festivals….including the Newport and Saratoga Jazz festivals.

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Doug Doyle

Doug Doyle has been News Director at WBGO since 1998. Since then, Doug and his news staff have received more than 300 awards from organizations like PRNDI (now PMJA), AP, New York Association of Black Journalists, Garden State Association of Black Journalists and the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists.

See stories by Doug Doyle

Sheila Anderson

In 1995 Sheila E. Anderson joined the staff of WBGO in Newark, New Jersey where she hosts Weekend Jazz Overnight and Salon Sessions. She has authored four books: The Quotable Musician: From Bach to Tupac (2003), How to Grow as A Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed (2005) (both published by Allworth Press), The Little Red Book of Musicians Wisdom (Skyhorse Press, 2012) and the 2^nd edition of How to Grow as A Musician was published in 2019,

In addition to curating jazz at the Newark Museum of Art, Ms. Anderson is a 2017 Columbia University Community Scholar, an inaugural Dan
Morgenstern Fellow by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark
(2020), is a graduate of Baruch College and resides in Harlem, NYC.

See stories by Sheila Anderson