In Memoriam: Jazz Masters We Lost in 2025

We’re on the verge of losing our living link to the generation that defined the sound of jazz.

From the New Orleans styles of the 1900s–20s, to the big-band era of the ’30s, bebop in the ’40s, cool and hard-bop in the ’50s, post-bop and free jazz in the ’60s, and the fusion wave of the ’70s — jazz grew into a fully formed musical language. Nearly everything that came after has branched from the groundwork laid in those decades.

The ’70s are now half a century behind us, and the artists who shaped that era have reached their later years. The jazz musicians who died in 2025 further thinned our connection to that formative period. Their voices are gone, but their examples remain. If you’re new to these names, our look at virtuosos and their iconic instruments offers another entry point into the stories behind legendary performers. We hope these words help more listeners discover the music these masters left behind.

Jack DeJohnette (August 9, 1942 – October 26, 2025)

By Oliver Abels – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Jack DeJohnette first drew attention through Charles Lloyd’s trailblazing fusion quartet. That exposure led Miles Davis to bring him into the studio for Bitches Brew, the landmark album that reshaped modern jazz. DeJohnette later became one of the defining artists on the ECM label, appearing constantly in its catalog as both sideman and leader.

DeJohnette’s approach freed the drum set from traditional timekeeping. Building on Elvin Jones and Tony Williams, he treated the kit as a painter treats a canvas — spreading ideas across time and space, never locking into a steady looping pattern. Alongside Bob Moses and Jon Christensen, he helped shape the “ECM style”: a way of playing non-swing material that avoids heavy kick-and-snare emphasis, focusing instead on light, intricate cymbal textures.

His work with pianist Keith Jarrett in the Standards Trio stands as the pinnacle of his career. Their three-decade rapport produced some of the most breathtaking trio moments in modern jazz. Late in life, his group Special Edition and the reunion album Made in Chicago with Chicago avant-garde players showed that his range never narrowed.

Al Foster (January 18, 1943 – May 28, 2025)

Al Foster was DeJohnette’s junior in what musicians half-jokingly called the “Miles Davis Academy.” After DeJohnette left Miles’s band, Foster stepped in and went on to play with Miles for more than a decade — the longest-serving drummer Miles ever hired, and the only one who stayed through both his 1970s retirement and later comeback.

Where DeJohnette brought open-ended freedom, Foster preferred a steady pulse punctuated by sudden polyrhythmic surprises. His early work on Blue Mitchell’s The Thing to Do and Down With It shows his depth. After Miles passed, his collaborations with Joe Henderson on So Near, So Far and The State of the Tenor are essential ’90s recordings. His later albums are superb hard-bop records featuring prominent contemporary players including Adam Birnbaum, Kevin Hays, and Chris Potter.

Anthony Jackson (June 23, 1952 – October 19, 2025)

By Art Bromage from Seattle – Anthony Jackson in Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Anthony Jackson was the pioneer who brought the six-string electric bass into prominence, establishing the now-standard tuning in perfect fourths (BEADGC). While six-string basses existed before him, Jackson defined how to play them.

He moved effortlessly between jazz and pop. Long-term collaborations included Latin piano virtuoso Michel Camilo, Brazilian singer-pianist Tania Maria, fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, and pianist Hiromi. In pop, his bass lines anchored albums by Simon & Garfunkel, Luther Vandross, Diana Ross, and Peter, Paul & Mary. Across his career, Jackson recorded on over 500 albums.

Hermeto Pascoal (June 22, 1936 – September 13, 2025)

Growing up in Brazil’s northeast, Hermeto Pascoal was left alone at home as a child while his family went out. He explored the world through sound — creating pitches with water bottles, using his beard to generate rhythms, singing into cups of water. Calling him an experimenter of sound is no exaggeration.

His mastery spanned accordion, piano, flute, and saxophone. His compositions fused Northeastern Brazilian styles like Forró and Baião with rock and funk, constantly introducing odd meters that were rare at the time. Miles Davis noticed — Hermeto contributed compositions to Live-Evil in the 1970s. Legend has it Miles once asked him to spar, and received a solid punch to the face from the fearless musician — earning Miles’s admiring exclamation that he was “a crazy white man.”