Jack DeJohnette’s Final Hudson Valley Residency Honored at Woodstock Playhouse

The Jack DeJohnette residency at the Woodstock Playhouse wasn’t just a birthday celebration—it became a memorial. Announced on August 4, 2022, the multi-night jazz event was meant to honor the legendary drummer’s 80th year, a milestone for a musician whose loose-limbed yet precise beats shaped modern jazz across six decades. But when DeJohnette passed away on October 27, 2025, at age 83, the final performance—already in the books—became a quiet, powerful tribute to a titan who never stopped pushing boundaries.

A Legacy in Rhythm and Reverence

Born in 1942 in Chicago, DeJohnette didn’t just play drums; he redefined them. His work with the Charles Lloyd Quartet in the 1960s—alongside pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Cecil McBee—helped fuse jazz with the spiritual currents of the counterculture. Atlantic Records captured that magic on albums that still echo in listening rooms today. By the 1980s, he’d moved into avant-garde territory with Miles Davis, then later formed his own ensembles that blended African rhythms, classical structure, and free jazz improvisation. Critics called him daring. Musicians called him indispensable.

The Residency: Two Nights, One Unforgettable Sound

The first show, on Saturday, September 17, 2022, paired DeJohnette with tap dancer Savion Glover. The synergy was electric: Glover’s feet became percussion, locking into DeJohnette’s polyrhythms like two minds reading the same book. Tickets were $45 plus a $5 service fee—steep for a small venue, but worth it. People came from Brooklyn, Philadelphia, even Vermont. The air in the 1938-built theater crackled with reverence.

The second event, on October 29, 2022, featured DeJohnette with bassist Dave Holland and pianist Jason Moran. It was billed as a piano trio, but it felt like a conversation among elders—each note deliberate, each silence pregnant with history. The venue’s records now mark it as “Completed.” In hindsight, it was his last public performance.

Woodstock Playhouse: More Than a Stage

The Woodstock Playhouse, located at 103 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock, New York, has been a cultural heartbeat since 1938. After closing in the 1990s, it reopened in 2010 under a partnership with the New York Conservatory for the Arts. Today, it’s an 87-year-old institution—15 years into its renaissance—with a gallery program called “Welcome to Woodstock” showcasing 16 local artists through October 2025. It’s not just a theater; it’s a living archive of Hudson Valley creativity.

Its sponsorship model, featuring “2025 Theatre Festival Sponsors,” leans into community stewardship. These aren’t faceless corporations—they’re local dentists, bookstore owners, farmers. The Playhouse asks patrons to support them. It’s a quiet, powerful model: culture survives when people choose to invest in it.

What Comes After the Last Note?

DeJohnette’s death came just two days before the release of his final studio album, Sound Travels, a collaborative project recorded in 2024. The Woodstock Playhouse hasn’t announced a tribute concert yet—but it’s inevitable. Meanwhile, programming continues: Babes in Toyland opens December 12, 2025, a whimsical musical that feels like a nod to the Playhouse’s enduring spirit.

The venue’s location—100 miles north of New York City, nestled in Ulster County—makes it a sanctuary. Artists come here not for the spotlight, but for the silence between the notes. DeJohnette understood that. He didn’t just play jazz; he gave it breath.

Legacy in the Air

You can still hear him in the way younger drummers now approach the kit—less about power, more about texture. His influence lives in the quiet grooves of Robert Glasper, the polyrhythms of Kendrick Lamar’s producers, even in the ambient jazz of Kamasi Washington. He didn’t need to headline festivals to matter. He mattered because he made others dare to be different.