By Tony Ozuna - For the Post
Joey
DeFrancesco is a world-renowned Hammond B3 organist, following in the tradition
of soul jazz - bluesy-funk grooves on the same instrument as masters Jimmy
Smith and Jack McDuff. He will soon perform in Prague with his new trio at
Divadlo u Hasičů, just blocks from náměstí Miru.
Since 2003,
DeFrancesco has repeatedly won the Down Beat Critics and Readers Poll Awards
for Top Jazz Organist, but finding his most recent recordings can get
confusing, since he has slyly moved himself to the second tier and instead put
his father Papa John DeFrancesco on many of his recent efforts.
In this way,
the younger DeFrancesco seems to be thanking his father, who is also an
exceptional Hammond B3 organist, for introducing him to jazz at such a young
age, while growing up in Philadelphia. Referring to the Hammond B3 and his
father's influence on his career, DeFrancesco tells The Prague Post, "His
influence was the records and music he listened to. I loved it at a very early
age. I loved this music before I even knew what an organ was."
"Then
when he brought the organ home because he wasn't working at times, I realized
the sound that I was hearing on those great Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Brother
Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Larry Young records was coming from this massive instrument,
and I just had to play it. He influenced me without influencing me."
One
notable recent recording on Savant Records lists Papa John DeFrancesco as the
group's leader, with Joey merely listed as a sideman on trumpet, along with
another DeFrancesco son, John Jr. on guitar. Papa John DeFrancesco-A
Philadelphia Story (2011) includes foot-stomping, groovy soul jazz covers of
'60s and '70s classics, including Cream's "Strange Brew," The
Temptations' "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and the Isley Brothers'
"It's Your Thing," and perhaps most appropriately, a Country-Western
gem, Glenn Campbell's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix."
That
song refers to Papa John's recent relocation from Philadelphia to Arizona to
live closer to his son Joey, who has been living in the Sun State since the
early '90s. Another scorching recording with father and son from 2010, Desert
Heat, lists Papa John DeFrancesco on Hammond B-3 with Joey on keyboards, along
with two Latin-jazz icons, Tony and Ramon Banda, formerly from Los Angeles and
previously of Poncho Sanchez's famed Latin soul-jazz group, but now based in
Arizona.
The
father and son's family project has been successful if, for nothing else,
making the jazz world aware of Papa John DeFrancesco's talent on the B3 as a
worthy match to his son's.
"He
has become a little more known in recent years, due to the fact that I've
become very well known, and through interviews and relationships in the
business that I have, it has made it possible for him to have a recording
career, and become more known," DeFrancisco admits.
For
his concert in Prague, DeFrancesco will be joined by his trio, including Rick
Zunigar on guitar, and at least one of the Banda brothers, Ramon on drums and
percussion.
"Ramon
brings a beautiful Latin-based groove that I really like playing with, and it
makes me hear and play different," DeFrancesco says.
For
this tour, DeFrancesco will be playing from his most recent recordings,
including 40, an album celebrating his 40th birthday. DeFrancesco's age must
come as quite a surprise to some fans, since he has been active on the jazz
scene for almost 30 years.
In
other words, DeFrancesco started off more or less as a child prodigy, and
already by his mid-teens he was playing with some of jazz's biggest names,
including Jack McDuff and Richard "Groove" Holmes, yet another
Hammond B3 Master. At the age of 17, he was even asked by Miles Davis to join
his band on the album Amandla (1989).
So
it is fitting that DeFrancesco's 2011 Grammy-nominated recording is a tribute
to another child prodigy. Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson
was recorded after Jackson's death, and includes songs from his solo career -
five of these from Thriller, including "Billie Jean," and "Beat
It."
DeFrancesco
admits he was a Jackson fan when he was young, and this sparked the idea to
make this recording.
"I
saw Michael Jackson perform a few times, and once when I was younger, I saw him
when the Jackson 5 had a reunion tour, and he knocked me out. I also met
Michael very briefly at a Columbia Records convention when I was 18 and
recording for that label," he says.
It's
also possible they'll include a Michael Jackson song or two on this tour, he
says.
DeFrancesco
performed in the Czech Republic in November, but he was playing as a guest with
the David Sanborn Trio in České Budějovice.
"I've
played in Prague before, and the only thing I can say is that I always enjoyed
each time, and there were great audiences," he says. "I'm looking
forward to playing there this time because my wife, Gloria, will be with me,
and I always love when she travels with me. It makes everything so much
better."
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