Joey DeFrancesco
Touring in support of his new release on Mack Avenue Records, Project Freedom, DeFrancesco’s new quartet, features him on the Hammond B-3—plus contributions on keyboards, trumpet and as a vocalist. Accompanying DeFrancesco are drummer Jason Brown, guitarist Dan Wilson and saxophonist Troy Roberts—collectively billed as the People.
Joey DeFrancesco's emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had all but gone into hibernation from the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s until DeFrancesco reignited the flame with his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie speaker cabinet. The son of "Papa" John DeFrancesco, an organist himself, the younger DeFrancesco remembers playing as early as four-years-old. Soon after, his father began bringing him to gigs in Philadelphia, where he was proudly born and raised, with legendary players like Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones, who quickly recognized his talent and enthusiasm. With a natural gift for music, DeFrancesco also swiftly picked up on the trumpet after a touring stint with Miles Davis as one of the two youngest players ever recruited for any of Davis' ensembles.
DeFrancesco has recorded and/or toured with his own groups as well as numerous renowned artists that include Ray Charles, Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, James Moody, John Scofield, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Cobb, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn and many more. The three time Grammy® Award-nominee, with more than 30 recordings as a leader under his belt, has received countless Jazz Journalist Association awards and other accolades worldwide, including being inducted into the inaugural Hammond Organ Hall of Fame in 2014, the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame in 2016 as well as topping the Critics Polls in DownBeat Magazine eleven times over the past fifteen years and the Readers Polls every year since 2005. DeFrancesco also hosts a weekly program on SiriusXM Radio's Real Jazz channel titled "Organized."
Quotes
“…ranging from sublime to positively pyrotechnic… the best B3 player on the
planet” - Jazz Times
“Mr. DeFrancesco is a deeply authoritative musician, a master of rhythmic
pocket, and of the custom of stomping bass lines beneath chords and riffs.” -
New York Times
“ he has dominated the instrument and the field as no one of his generation has”. – Chicago Tribune
“The quicksilver nature of his technique, fluidity of his ideas [and] musicality of his phrases … have placed him in a category by himself among contemporary jazz organists.” Chicago Tribune
Joey DeFrancesco
Touring in support of his new release on Mack Avenue Records, Project Freedom, DeFrancesco’s new quartet, features him on the Hammond B-3—plus contributions on keyboards, trumpet and as a vocalist. Accompanying DeFrancesco are drummer Jason Brown, guitarist Dan Wilson and saxophonist Troy Roberts—collectively billed as the People.
Joey DeFrancesco's emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had all but gone into hibernation from the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s until DeFrancesco reignited the flame with his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie speaker cabinet. The son of "Papa" John DeFrancesco, an organist himself, the younger DeFrancesco remembers playing as early as four-years-old. Soon after, his father began bringing him to gigs in Philadelphia, where he was proudly born and raised, with legendary players like Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones, who quickly recognized his talent and enthusiasm. With a natural gift for music, DeFrancesco also swiftly picked up on the trumpet after a touring stint with Miles Davis as one of the two youngest players ever recruited for any of Davis' ensembles.
DeFrancesco has recorded and/or toured with his own groups as well as numerous renowned artists that include Ray Charles, Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, James Moody, John Scofield, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Cobb, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn and many more. The three time Grammy® Award-nominee, with more than 30 recordings as a leader under his belt, has received countless Jazz Journalist Association awards and other accolades worldwide, including being inducted into the inaugural Hammond Organ Hall of Fame in 2014, the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame in 2016 as well as topping the Critics Polls in DownBeat Magazine eleven times over the past fifteen years and the Readers Polls every year since 2005. DeFrancesco also hosts a weekly program on SiriusXM Radio's Real Jazz channel titled "Organized."
Quotes
“…ranging from sublime to positively pyrotechnic… the best B3 player on the
planet” - Jazz Times
“Mr. DeFrancesco is a deeply authoritative musician, a master of rhythmic
pocket, and of the custom of stomping bass lines beneath chords and riffs.” -
New York Times
“ he has dominated the instrument and the field as no one of his generation has”. – Chicago Tribune
“The quicksilver nature of his technique, fluidity of his ideas [and] musicality of his phrases … have placed him in a category by himself among contemporary jazz organists.” Chicago Tribune
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