Joey DeFrancesco - Organic Vibes
Concord Records
When people think of modern B-3 organ jazz, they're
gonna think about one artist: Joey DeFrancesco. And while that
may not be fair to a few of the other new-breed organists who
also have game like Larry Goldings and Mike LeDonne, DeFrancesco
was there first when organ-based groove jazz was getting hot
again and he has remained at the forefront of the enduring
sub-genre. In fact, you can take the organ-playing part out of
it and basically he is, along with a few of the Marsalis family
and maybe Harry Connick Jr., one of the best known names of the
new breed of jazz artists playing right now.
Consequently, he is held to task whenever he releases a
new CD. Is the concept interesting? Does it tread the same old
ground or break into something new? Is the artist or the
listener being stretched? These are all questions that are asked
of a new DeFrancesco release and whether anyone believes they
should be asked of all new releases or not, it doesn't matter.
DeFrancesco is one of the artists who is held to a higher
standard when it comes to a jazz release. Consequently,
DeFrancesco (as all musicians really should) has to figure out a
way to give his fans something extra, and switch up his approach
from release to release.
To that end, he has invited master vibraphone player
Bobby Hutcherson to guest on his new album. Hutcherson is a jazz
veteran who has been a leader for many years and has played on
albums with a variety of groove jazz players, and even a few of
the great organists of the '60's like Jimmy Smith. Still, an
organ/vibes session is a relatively rare thing and worthy of
special attention. Another aspect of note on this album is how
much room DeFrancesco manages to leave for his guests, the other
being tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The cliche of an organ
player is one of a frenetic, dominant soloist who stomps all
over a song leaving little room for his band to be heard. While
DeFrancesco has never been this way, he steps back even further
on this record than he normally does, leaving his guest soloists
plenty of space and causing him to tighten up his solos and
really pick his spots. The result is revelatory. While
DeFrancesco has always been a mature soloist, he manages to
distill his genius into the sharpest, tersest,
hit-home-and-get-out playing of his career on this album. It is
possibly the best performance by DeFrancesco in a career full of
wonderful work and marks a new era in his career, one of
maturity and leaving a legacy instead of seeing how many notes
can be played over a change. Like I said, DeFrancesco has never
been someone who monopolizes the situation - he has consistently
played for the good of the song over the years. Just now, he has
learned to pare his playing down to the genius, like Duke
Ellington or Miles Davis. This is the start of a big deal for
DeFrancesco and a great deal for his fans. This album is
wonderful.
This album will not only appeal to fans of the B-3 organ
groove-style jazz sub-genre and the fans of the vibraphone, but
will also appeal to jazz fans in general, no matter what
particular style they enjoy most. This is a rarity in the world
of jazz (and pretty much all music really) where most times fans
choose up according to a certain instrument or style and have
little love for the rest. This album should make a lot of jazz
fans happy and make even make a whole lot of new jazz fans. You
gotta get this album. - Scott Homewood
www.concordrecords.com
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