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    MARY LOU WILLIAMS     

            INTERVIEW

       In Her Own Words

Joey DeFrancesco, driving force on the Hammond organ, dies at 51

Joey DeFrancesco performs at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis in 2021. Mark Sheldon hide caption

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Mark Sheldon

Joey DeFrancesco performs at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis in 2021.

Mark Sheldon

Joey DeFrancesco, who brought the richly enveloping sound of the Hammond B-3 organ roaring back into the jazz mainstream in the early 1990s, reigning as its preeminent ace for more than 30 years, died on Thursday. He was 51.

Gloria DeFrancesco, his wife and manager, announced his death on social media, but did not provide a cause.

Few jazz artists in any era have ever dominated the musical language and popular image of an instrument the way DeFrancesco did with the organ — as early as 17, when his head-turning debut was released on Columbia Records. He exhibited supreme technical command at the keyboard, reeling off ribbons of notes with his right hand. And he took full advantage of the sonic possibilities presented by an organ console, with its drawbars, switches and pedal board; his organ could lurch abruptly from an ambient hum to a sanctified holler, or change timbres and textures in the middle of a phrase. Like his idol and closest parallel, Jimmy Smith, he revealed new vistas on the instrument.

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Also like Smith, DeFrancesco was emotionally evocative with his sound, unfailingly reaching audiences with a soulful message rooted in the blues. His language encompassed not only bebop and the blues but also the modal dialects of organist Larry Young, and pianists like McCoy Tyner. His radiant brand of virtuosity attracted collaborators ranging from Miles Davis, whose band DeFrancesco joined while still a senior in high school, to Van Morrison, with whom he made two recent albums. He is prominently featured on Christian McBride's 2020 release For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver, which won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in April.



DeFrancesco made some 30 albums of his own, a few of which involve an implicit passing of the torch from sterling predecessors like Smith and Jack McDuff. Other albums featured an array of kindred spirits, old and young, including the tenor saxophone masters Illinois Jacquet, George Coleman, Houston Person and most recently Pharoah Sanders. On his latest, More Music, DeFrancesco demonstrates his own proficiency on tenor saxophone, as well as trumpet, keyboards and vocals. "He had nothing left to prove on organ," McBride, who is the host of the NPR program Jazz Night in America, tells WRTI. "I think that's why he took up trumpet and saxophone. I told him if he ever picked up bass, we'd have some words!"

Like McBride, who interviewed DeFrancesco for a 2019 episode of Jazz Night in America, he remained closely associated with his native Philadelphia even long after he'd made his home elsewhere. Partly this was due to the deep tradition of the organ combo in Philly — as Pat Martino, a guitar luminary who cut his teeth with a marquee generation of jazz organists there, implied in his 2011 autobiography, Here and Now! (with Bill Milkowski). Martino, who died last year, hailed DeFrancesco in the book as "an exceptional artist," adding: "As a player, he's just ferocious, in that tradition of Jimmy Smith and all the great Philly organists."

Born in Springfield, Pa. on April 10, 1971, Joseph DeFrancesco came to music as a birthright. His father, known as "Papa" John DeFrancesco, played organ on the Philadelphia jazz scene; his grandfather and namesake, Joseph DeFrancesco, had played saxophone and clarinet during the swing era of the 1930s, in upstate New York. His older brother, Johnny, is a blues guitarist.

Joey started out banging on a toy piano, but by age 4 he had graduated to his father's organ, which hulked in the house whenever it wasn't set up for a residency at a club. He learned not only from his father but also from prominent organists like Trudy Pitts and Shirley Scott.

At age 9, Joey's father brought him to the Settlement Music School, a community organization with a long history of mentoring young talent. The band, mostly composed of high school kids, was directed by Lovett Hines, who remembers that Joey was so little that when he sat at the piano bench, his feet wouldn't touch the ground.

"He was a terror at the organ," recalls Hines, who stayed in contact with DeFrancesco over the years. "You could maybe best him on trumpet or tenor, but once he sat down at the organ, it was all over."

DeFrancesco was only 10 when he played his first professional gig, at Gert's Cocktail Lounge on South Street, which held a jam session every Monday night. Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley and drummer "Philly" Joe Jones were regulars. By the time McBride met DeFrancesco at Settlement Music School a few years later, "Joey was already a local superstar as a middle schooler," McBride recalls. "I was 12, he was 13. We were the youngest ones in the band."

DeFrancesco attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where his classmates included McBride, drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. He was the first of their peer group to get a record deal, after his performance at the first annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition impressed George Butler, a producer and A&R executive at Columbia.

He eventually worked in a range of situations beyond the typical organ combo, including a group called The Free Spirits, a fusion group with guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Dennis Chambers. But he also pulled others into his zone; even with McLaughlin, DeFrancesco found a foot-tapping groove, notably on a 1995 album titled After the Rain, with master drummer Elvin Jones.

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In recent years, DeFrancesco took a focused interest on what he called "spiritual jazz," ranging from Sanders to Sun Ra, with a searching quality and a more open harmonic territory. As for his exploration on the organ, it was no different than it ever had been. "I've always been stretching the boundaries of the instrument since day one," he told Philadelphia Weekly in 2019. "I have my influences, but nobody's played the organ the way I play it."

Additional reporting by Josh Jackson of WRTI.

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Joey DeFrancesco, Who Helped Revitalize the Hammond B-3 Organ, Dies at 51

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​DeFrancesco recorded his first album and toured Europe as a member of Miles Davis’ band at age 17.

(Photo: Mark Sheldon)

The music world is mourning the unexpected passing of Joey DeFrancesco, who died Aug. 25 from a massive heart attack, according to a statement released by Hammond Organ World. The noted organist and multi-instrumentalist was 51.

A generational talent, DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1971, to “Papa” John, a railroad electrician and organist/vocalist, and Laurene DeFrancesco. He began playing organ when he was 4 years old and had memorized Jimmy Smith’s “The Sermon” in six months when he was 5, according to a 1992 DownBeat profile.

After studying classical music from ages 10 to 14 at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, he enrolled in the city’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). His classmates there included drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. “I came into school one day at 8 a.m. to find Joey and Christian McBride burning through ‘Giant Steps’ at an impossibly fast tempo, rollicking and laughing the whole way,” Rosenwinkel wrote on his Facebook page in memoriam.

In 1987, DeFrancesco placed fourth in the inaugural Thelonious Monk Piano Competition (Marcus Roberts won that year). He toured Europe as a member of Miles Davis’ band at 17 and also recorded All Of Me, his first of five albums for Columbia, with Houston Person guesting on two tracks. His final side for Columbia, 1993’s Live At The Five Spot, featured Person again as well as fellow tenor men Illinois Jacquet, Grover Washington Jr. and Kirk Whalum. A year later he was playing trumpet, inspired in part by his time with Davis, and by his mid-twenties he was drumming and singing, too.

Subsequent recordings on labels such as HighNote and Big Mo Records, Concord Jazz and Mack Avenue established him as the most notable organist of his generation. He also did high-profile recordings with Van Morrison, Bette Midler and Joe Pesci (ak.a. Joe Doggs). Highlights in his recorded career include Goodfellas (Concord, 1999) an Italian American cultural celebration with guitarist Frank Vignola and drummer Joe Ascione; Incredible (Concord, 2000), which was recorded at live at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco and features two medleys with his mentor Smith; and For Jimmy, Wes And Oliver (Mack Avenue, 2020), the Christian McBride Big Band album that reunited the “best friends,” according to the bandleader, and other CAPA alumni.

“I’ve never had a problem saying that Joey DeFrancesco was hands-down the most creative and influential organist since Jimmy Smith,” McBride wrote in an official statement. “In terms of taking the organ to the next level and making it popular again for a younger generation, no one did it like Joey. He truly set a new bar and his legacy will live on as such.”

“The resurgence of the organ has a lot to do with myself,” DeFrancesco said in a 1996 interview for the San Jose Mercury News. “I was 17 when my first record came out, and I was on a major label. And for a while there was really no new face. … I feel very responsible for the resurgence.”

Late in his career, DeFrancesco added saxophone to his arsenal. “You know, my grandfather was a saxophone player, and played with the Dorsey Brothers,” he explained in a November 2021 DownBeat cover story by J.D. Considine. “Joseph, who I’m named after. So there was always some saxophone history in the family. My father kept his horns, and thank goodness he did, because those were there when I wanted to dabble with the instrument.”

“I always used to say that God gave Joey enough talent for 10 musicians,” remarked Pete Fallico, a Hammond B-3 evangelist. The Silicon Valley resident met DeFrancesco in San Francisco back in the early ’90s and had collaborated with him on and off ever since. “Mind, body and soul, he’s probably one of the most gifted musicians we’ll ever see.”

DeFrancesco is survived by his wife, Gloria; his daughter, Ashley; his son, Donny; his parents; and his siblings John and Cheryle. DB

Joey DeFrancesco 1971 — 2022

In his teens, he was already the leading jazz organist of his generation—and he remained so for nearly 40 years


Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (photo: Kazimierz Jurewicz)

Joey DeFrancesco, an astonishingly gifted multi-instrumentalist who as a teenager kickstarted a renaissance of the Hammond B-3 organ in jazz, died August 25 after a massive heart attack. He was 51.

Gloria DeFrancesco, his wife and manager, announced DeFrancesco’s death in an Instagram post on August 26. Location of death was not disclosed.

“The love of my life is now in peace with the angels,” she wrote. “Right now I have very few words. Thank you for the outpouring of love and support coming in from everywhere. Joey loved you all[.]”

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A virtuoso on the organ, DeFrancesco was also a child prodigy, the son of another noted organist, Philadelphian “Papa” John DeFrancesco. The younger DeFrancesco began sitting in on his father’s gigs when he was five years old, started gigging in his own right at 10, signed his first record contract at 16, and toured with Miles Davis at 17.

As a player, he was renowned for his deep sense of groove and technique. While DeFrancesco did sculpt a certain style from his virtuosity, it was a difficult style to describe because of his vast knowledge and application of the entire jazz organ heritage. “Joey takes all styles and creates his own—the Joey DeFrancesco style,” percussionist Sammy Figueroa told Suzanne Lorge in 2020.

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Long after his arrival had reignited interest in the organ for the 1980s “Young Lions” generation, DeFrancesco remained the preeminent organist in jazz. He was a five-time Grammy nominee. He won the DownBeat Readers Poll every year from 2005 to his death, and won the magazine’s critics’ poll nine times. When the Hammond Hall of Fame was founded in 2013, DeFrancesco was in its inaugural class of inductees. He was also the host of Organized, a weekly program of jazz organ, on SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel.

In addition to the organ, DeFrancesco played trumpet and saxophone, and was also an occasional singer.

The outpouring of shock and grief at DeFrancesco’s sudden death on social media was tremendous. “Goodbye to my brother,” guitarist John McLaughlin tweeted. “We shared some of the greatest concerts of my life.”

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“Am absolutely crushed,” drummer Peter Erskine added. “Easily the most swinging musician of our time.”

“He was one of the most loved, revered, and unique musicians of all time,” pianist Emmet Cohen, who had been scheduled to play back-to-back with DeFrancesco on August 27, wrote on Facebook. “We carry Joey’s spirit each and every time we hit the bandstand, and we’ll continue to keep his family and loved ones in our hearts and prayers.”

Joseph F. DeFrancesco was born April 10, 1971 in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania. When he was four years old, his organist father Papa John first showed him the Hammond B-3 organ. “I started playing it and the sound just moved me,” he told the Boston Herald. “Being a 4-year-old and making up your mind about what you want to do for the rest of your life—I was very fortunate.”

If his father soon put him on display, it wasn’t simply out of bias. By the time he was 10, DeFrancesco was good enough to play with Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones in Philadelphia. He was still a student at that city’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts when Columbia Records offered him an exclusive recording contract.

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Before he was able to make his first album, however, he had already recorded with Grover Washington Jr. (on 1987’s Strawberry Moon) and Miles Davis (1988’s Amandla), touring with the latter for six months after the trumpet legend shared billing with DeFrancesco on a local Philadelphia TV show. His own debut, All of Me, was issued in 1989.

From there, his rise was meteoric. He began touring with his own band shortly after graduating from high school; recorded four more albums for Columbia between 1989 and 1993; then recorded nearly three dozen more for the Muse, Big Mo, HighNote, Concord, and Mack Avenue labels. He enjoyed extended collaborations with Houston Person and John McLaughlin, and worked twice with his organ idol Jimmy Smith. He began playing trumpet after he was inspired by Davis; he often sang while playing organ, and in 2018 he began playing tenor saxophone as well. He played all of the above instruments, as well as piano and other keyboards, on his 2021 album More Music.

As shared on DeFrancesco’s Facebook page, he completed his final recording session on August 16. He had given his final live performance two days prior, during an August 12-14 weekend stand at Baltimore’s Keystone Korner.

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In addition to his wife Gloria, DeFrancesco is survived by a daughter, Ashley; a son, Donny; his parents, John and Laurene; a sister, Cheryle; and a brother, John Jr.

Joey DeFrancesco Meets Pharaoh Sanders

Originally Published September 1, 2022

MICHAEL J. WEST

Michael J. West is a jazz journalist in Washington, D.C. In addition to his work on the national and international jazz scenes, he has been covering D.C.’s local jazz community since 2009. He is also a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader, and as such spends most days either hunkered down at a screen or inside his very big headphones. He lives in Washington with his wife and two children.

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