Joey De Francesco [1972-2022 - Some Remembrances

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“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.” 

- NPR obituary

“You played some of the baddest shit on the organ that to this day causes my jaw to drop to the floor.” 

- Cory Weeds, Jazz musician and Jazz Club owner

“DeFrancesco — whose infectious, imp-of-the-perverse expressions make him as much fun to watch as listen to — can stride, flatten fifths and string together quotes from Bird, Diz, Monk and Miles with the polished resourcefulness of the eight-year veteran that he is,” Gene Seymour of The Philadelphia Daily News wrote in 1986 after observing the Settlement Jazz Ensemble at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, where the young Mr. DeFrancesco was then a student.

 “And all the while you watch and listen,” Mr. Seymour added, “you find a little voice inside yourself chanting: ‘He’s 15 years old!’”

“I love the synthesizers and play all that stuff, but you can’t beat the sound of the B3,” he told The Associated Press in 1991. “The instrument has a very warm tone. It’s got the contrasts. It just has all those emotions in it. It’s got little bits of every instrument in it. It’s like having a whole orchestra at your fingertips.”

Mr. DeFrancesco was something of a showman, even when he was a sideman. In 2010, for instance, he played with a trio led by the saxophonist David Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn was the headliner, but, as Nate Chinen wrote in The Times of the trio’s gigs, “It’s often as much Mr. DeFrancesco’s show, and sometimes more so.”

If he was more flamboyant than some of his contemporaries, that was deliberate, Mr. DeFrancesco told The Buffalo News in 2004.

“I think these new players are too damn serious,” he said. “The joy of it, the fun of it, is something that jazz has lost. I mean, we are entertainers, after all. If you don’t look like you’re having fun onstage, how is anyone in the audience supposed to?”

- Neil Genszlinger 8.27.2022 NY Times Obit.

There’s so much to say about the Jazz Giant that was Joey DeFrancesco who died on August 25th at the tragically early age of 51; the following feature is only a start.

Of all the comments that populated various periodicals upon his passing, I chose the ones that appear above because they highlight two aspects of Joey’s playing that always impressed me the most: [1] to paraphrase Cory Weeds, everytime I heard him was a jaw-dropping experience because he played “the baddest shit on the organ” and [2] among the many qualities of his virtuosity on the Hammond B3 organ that appealed to me the most was his youthful playfulness. He never lost the joy that came from exploring the sounds he could generate on that instrument and sharing the resultant delights with his audience. 

And. as a point in passing, has any Jazz musician ever had a greater affinity for the Blues than Joey DeFrancesco? His music is soaked in it.

The following reminiscences are all by Joey’s contemporaries two of whom -  Larry Goldings and Mike LeDonne - are also Hammond B3 organists. 

Larry Goldings 

“I first encountered Joey DeFrancesco in 1986 when Arnie Lawrence brought him to the New School for his “Peep Your Hole Card” series. He might have just been signed to Columbia Records, at age 16. If my dates are correct, I was a college freshman, and was not yet playing Hammond organ, only piano. That day Joey only played piano, but his precociousness was obvious to all present. The label signing and Joey’s prodigious talents paved the way for a very real Hammond organ resurgence internationally. By 1990 I was  riding this wave with other young organists, and Joey’s acclaim was positively affecting the careers of our elders - Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Mel Rhyne, and others. Old Hammonds were being refurbished and clubs and jazz festivals all over the world were providing them for a rising number of organ-centric bands. Joey was very much responsible for this, and musically he set the bar very very high.

Around 2001, a festival in Florida asked for Joey and I to play a two-organ set with a rhythm section. After the show I remember wondering whether I actually played the same instrument as Joey. His technical facility on the instrument was his most obvious trait but he possessed all the subtle gifts as well - incredible feel, light and swinging left hand/pedal technique, wonderful accompaniment skills where he utilized the entire instrument, comfort in many styles, and most importantly, Joey really played the blues (even when he was a teenager). Anyone who willingly shares the bill with Jimmy Smith, as Joey did many times, live and on record, knows what the hell they’re doing.

A few years ago, I was desperate to find someone who would move an organ down the hellish stairs at The Village Vanguard, when Joey came through and offered one of his instruments to be moved from Birdland, as long as a reliable moving company did the job. Unfortunately the organ was not returned to him unscathed. Something must have happened at the end of the week when the movers hauled the organ up and out. This news was reported to me by Joey.

On several occasions, Joey took the time to reach out to me with positive words about my own records. As recently as last month, he texted me that he was playing my trio’s new record (with Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart) on his XM radio show. What a beautiful cat.

I can’t imagine the number of players who started playing organ on account of Joey. But he wasn’t just an organist. He was a very good trumpet player, and in recent years he was touring as a tenor saxophone player, hiring organists to play behind him for part of the set. He confidently held his own on the horn, playing soulfully and with a great sound, which is just truly amazing to me. And talk about living out one’s dreams!

I send my deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Joey, especially his family.”

Mike LeDonne 

“Sitting here trying to process the loss of my Pizon and B3 brother Joey DeFrancesco. He was way too young to go and had so much more to give that this is truly a tragedy.

I was remembering that video of when he played on the Bill Boggs show in a band of youngsters and even though Boggs went over to talk to the trumpet player Miles asked who the organ player was. How sweet and innocent Joey looked when he got up from the organ after being singled out by none other than Miles Davis.  Then of course Miles hired him to play keyboards in his band. WOW!

I've always said that Joey was born to play the organ. There seemed to be no limits to what he could do with it and it was a thing of beauty to watch him do it. He was so natural at it that the thing was like another extension of his body.

I think about what a warm person he was, so supportive and down to earth. We shared Italian heritage which is a special kind of bond because even though Joey was younger than me I could immediately tell when I met him that we were raised in the same kind of way. Certain ways of speaking and humorous ways of looking at things. He had that same soulful manner that I have known all my life from the people I came up around so talking with him was like talking to family.

I am in shock at the moment. I can not believe I won't see him or hear him play live again. I will miss talking to him and getting texts from him out of the blue.  He reached a level of mastery few ever achieve. He flew right up near the sun while he was here and showed us what is possible. God Bless You Joey D., you rocked it my friend!!”

Benny Green

“Joey DeFrancisco's passage is an unfathomably HUGE loss to the music community. I'm in shock, because not only is Joey one of those rare artists whose voices authentically and uncompromisingly bridge tradition with present-day relatability, but also, because he's almost 10 years younger than me, and I expected him to stick around for at least as long as I'm here.

Without giving it a moment's thought until today, I now see that I've counted on Joey to be here, bringing happiness and keeping fellow artists like me, honest, by playing his ass off and never resting on his laurels. Joey's been continually learning more music, composing, teaching himself to sing, play the trumpet and the saxophone; he's what we call "insatiable". Joey is hungry for music, and although he's a natural performer, I never personally saw him resort to any gimmickry, as much as even once, throughout his tragically short career.

His natural gift is supreme; Joey D is without question, one of the most talented keyboardists of my generation, a generation that's so unspeakably rich with talented pianists and keyboardists. He will go down in history as one of the all-time great organists, because like all the greats who've ultimately made a lasting contribution, he absorbed and developed his music by embracing the riches that are right here; what the giants have already given the world.

No one who can really play, comes out of nowhere; everyone has their influences, and a wise artist chooses their musical models judiciously. Joey's organ sound embraced the best of the best of what the people who've given soul and a Black American voice to the instrument, such as Milt Buckner, Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Jimmy McGriff, Larry Young, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and Don Patterson to name a precious few, created and left behind, and he did so with such a personal flair -- if these people are some of the innovators of the instrument, (and indeed they are), then as a musical disciple, Joey is without a doubt, the real deal.

I know that whenever Joey's name is mentioned, it's going to invoke the same reaction in me that it always has -- thinking of Joey makes me want to take better care of the gift of love that my parents, teachers, and bandleaders have blessed my life with.

I'm deeply regretful that out of laziness and complacency on my part, I didn't follow-through with Joey's invitation for he and I to collaborate and perform together, as his wife Gloria was just beginning to discuss with me at the onset of the pandemic. Joey would have kicked my butt, no doubt, but he would have done so with a smile, and I know that I would have risen to the occasion and I'm sure I'd be a better musician and person today, had I had that exchange with beautiful Joey.

But his untimely passage reminds me that the people we want to get-together with, or just have a real talk with, are not guaranteed to be here tomorrow. Now is the time. Joey's service has been called to another realm, but he is already sorely missed in this one.

Sending love, respect and condolences, and wishing strength, grace and peace to Gloria and the DeFrancesco family. We Love You forever, dear Joey!

Peter Bernstein

R.I.P. Joey DeFrancesco. Such a tragic loss of one of the all-time greats and a beautiful and positive human being. When I think of him, I think of him saying "YEAH!!"  He was an incredible combination of super-human natural ability and insatiable desire to keep learning and growing. He was all about the deep joy that music can bring to our lives.My deepest condolences to his wife Gloria and his family. This is so sad and strange for me as I was just thinking about a beautiful week we spent in Bern exactly a year ago. It was beautiful to play 6 nights in a row with him, Anwar Marshall, and Brian Charrette. I loved his introductions and his total fearlessness when playing. 

He was truly a virtuoso who used his super powers to have fun and rock the house! Over the years, I've been fortunate to play with him on occasions that were very important to me as they involved some of our great ancestors: the first time was in Philly at Chris' Jazz Cafe in 2001 with James Moody, an amazing experience. A few years later we played a week at Dizzy's with Bobby Hutcherson, which ended up being a CD. Both of these experiences had the great Byron Landham on drums. Later we played a few gigs with George Coleman which was also a beautiful and intense experience. Earlier last year we did a livestream from Rudy Van Gelder Studio with Billy Hart and Houston Person. 

It was profound to me to be around the elder masters of course but also to see how Joey was around these giants. He had complete respect for their artistry and lifetime of experience yet was so at ease with them and made sure his respect didn't prevent him from having the most fun and being completely loose and free in his playing. It was beautiful for me to see someone even a little younger than me who understood that he had a place in the lineage too and that true dedication to the music and understanding where it comes from is all you need to make a contribution. He sure made a contribution, and it was beautiful. I loved him and was looking forward to future episodes and to see him become an elder too. 

He will be greatly missed.”