Joe DeFrancesco

Joey D.

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

If, according to Jazz lore, Miles Davis upon encountering Hammond B-3 organist Jimmy Smith for the first time declared: “This cat is the Eight Wonder of the World!,” does that make Hammond B-3 organist Joey DeFrancesco, whose technique on the instrument is even more stupendous, by definition, the Ninth & Tenth Wonders of the World?

Jazz as played on the Hammond B-3 organ is not for everyone. Some fans think the sound of the instrument is better suited to accompanying circus and carnival acts or the insipid and saccharine show tunes composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

My take on this debate is that I loved the sound of Jazz on the instrument the first time I heard it being played by Jimmy Smith and I loved it even more after I first encountered Joey D. generate more enthusiasm and excitement on it than one could ever imagine.

Hyperbole notwithstanding, Joey DeFrancesco is a technically skilled musician and a very inventive and creative improviser who has chosen to demonstrate and express what borders on artistic genius through this unusual instrument. 

Or as Jazz critic Art Pryor expressed it:

“What’s most incredible about Joey DeFrancesco is not his speed or technical wizardry with the keyboard (that part is just downright frightening!!!), nor is it his sense of harmonic sophistication, or his understanding and appreciation of the repertoire; it’s how he utilizes all these talents to create immaculate lines of improvisation – never repeating himself or falling prey to cute devices as a substitute for imagination. Best of all this cat will swing you out of house and home!”

The editorial staff at JazzProfiles is in the process of developing an extensive feature on Joey DeFrancesco, but, in the meantime, here are the producer’s note and  a portion of the whimsically entertaining insert notes to one of its favorite Joey D. albums – Goodfellas [Concord Jazz CCD-4845-2] featuring Frank Vignola [g] and Joe Ascione [d].

Below these we have posted four YouTube’s featuring music from the CD so the readers of JazzProfiles can experience the artistry of Joey along with Frank Vignola on guitar and Joe Ascione on drums in an audio visual format.

“It’s interesting to note that this recording captures the very first time this group played together. While Frank Vignola and Joe Ascione have played together throughout most of their musical lives, neither of them had ever played with Joey DeFrancesco before this date. Therefore it is particularly interesting that most of the songs on the record are first takes, without any rehearsal whatsoever.

I think the reasons for this record’s musical success are threefold: First of all, these guys can play! Each of them has a deep understanding of the jazz tradition coupled with an incredible facility on their respective instrument. Second, is that they were each raised in an Italian-American family, and therefore share a common heritage and perspective with respect to Italian-American music and culture. And third, they’re all big fans of the great ‘mafia’ motion pictures made by Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Marlon Brando, and many other talented actors, writers, and directors.

It is generally due to the later two reasons that this record was made amongst two days of continuous laughter and humor. It was this type of interplay that prompted the ‘Whack ‘em’ reprise, which gives you a glimpse of the spirit of the entire session. You can hear that spirit, coupled with a real respect for the music and the heritage, in every song on this album.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.” – John Burt

“Sam Butera said it good: ‘The whole world loves Italians’ … ‘a capito? One big reason is the music, ya understand what I’m saying here? …

Maronna mia … the songs my mother used to sing in the kitchen while she was making sauce or the ones we’d hear Dean Martin or Connie Francis sing on the radio … forget about it!

So now, me and the boys are looking for something like that today and we come across these three guys: Joey DeFrancesco, Frank Vignola and Joe Ascione. I’m tellin’ ya, these guys picked up where the other fellas left off.  Are you listening to me? … but these guys are playin’ jazz like I never heard before. It’s unbelievable!

Joey’s outta Philly where all dem real good organ players come from. He’s been playing organ since he was four or five … unbelievable! He reminds me of that fella Louie used to have on organ: Richie Varola … ‘cept Joey’s playing stuff I ain’t never heard before! This guy’s got big ears, ya know what I mean?... Like he can play anything he wants. I hear that he used to play with big cats like Miles Davis and dem guys but I like it when he justs sits down at the organ and grooves like his old man, Papa John, taught him.

The guitar player, Frank, came outta Long Island. He used to listen to Joe Pass a lot, another pisano. Frank’s father taught him to play the banjo, right? ‘Cause that’s what he played … so then Frank’s winnin’ all these contests for playing the banjo … mingcha, this guy’s unbelievable! Now he’s plaing guitar all over the world. He’s got this smooth sound, but like olive oil in a saucepan, he can sizzle when he wants to, ya know what I mean? … like when the garlic hits that hot oil.

Then this drummer! … Maronna! … Joe Ascione (I think he’s Neopolitan) … Man, he’s in the pocket all night long, see … keeping those other guys on their toes, ya know what I mean? He used to listen to Buddy Rich a lot. I’m tellin’ ya, this Joe Ascione’s hotter than sausage and peppers right off the grill. I love it when he moves the beat around … makin’ the music jump out at’cha. So anyway, I told the Boss he’s gotta hear these guys. Maybe they can come out to our men’s club and play, ya know what I mean? Then I’m gonna axe ‘em to play for my daughter’s wedding, see … or maybe this funeral we got comin’ up for this guy in a little while. Don’t worry … they’ll play. …

I’m tellin’ ya, these Goodfellas are all right by me … and I ain’t trying to be no wise-guy, see. Just listen for yourself.”

VINNIE THE NOSE (AKA Pete Fallico)

Joey DeFrancesco Trio - Volare

Joey DeFrancesco Trio - Fly me to the Moon

Speak Softly Love - Joey DeFrancesco Trio

Joey DeFrancesco Trio - Mala Femmina

Milt Hinton

“Over the years I've been asked why I took some of the photos I did. I think my answer surprises many people. When I took those early pictures of Dizzy Gillespie, we were both in Cab Calloway's band. Even back in those days I knew he was an innovator, but I never suspected that he would become a jazz legend. The same is true for other guys who were in the band like Ben Webster, Chu Berry, and Cozy Cole. They were my friends, and I wanted pictures of them so that, one day, we could all look back and remember the good times we shared in our youth.

At some point, probably in the early 1950s, I began to realize that I was experiencing jazz history firsthand. The music was changing rapidly, and new faces were always coming on the scene. Some of the greats, like Chu and Jimmy Blanton, were already gone, and others were well on their way to early deaths. I felt strongly about using my camera to capture some of the people and events that I was lucky enough to witness.

When I first started taking photographs I really didn't think about creating art. I was just a musician who happened to have a camera and wanted to document aspects of the jazz world I knew - on the road, backstage, at recording and T.V. studios, and festivals.

I began to see my photographs as art because, in recent years, they have been shown in museums and galleries and many people see them that way.

I've come to believe that art - in all of its forms - can reveal and preserve the spirit and essence of jazz, so that present and future generations can experience it.”

- Milt Hinton, Afterword

Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on Jazz

San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1997.

Pianist Benny Green [Click here to watch Benny play Cottontail with bassist Ray Brown, drummer Jeff Hamilton and the WDR Big Band [Cologne, Germany] 1994]

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The Ahmad Jamal Trio at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-ahmad-jamal-trio/concerts/newport-jazz-festival-july-02-1959.html

After reading the annotation below, please access the above link and click on the play arrow to listen to the performance.

The Ahmad Jamal Trio at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival

Ahmad Jamal - piano
Israel Crosby - bass
Vernel Fournier - drums

One of the most elegant, economical and harmonically inventive pianists in jazz, Ahmad Jamal has been a highly regarded figure among fellow musicians for the past 50 years. Jamal's appearance at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival with his groundbreaking trio featuring bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier came a year after their influential and best-selling Argo recording Live at the Pershing: But Not for Me, which established the group as a major force in modern jazz on the strength of their magical chemistry on such catchy tunes as "Woody 'N You," "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" and the hit single "Poinciana." Jamal continues to tour and record with his longstanding and highly interactive rhythm tandem of bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad.

Jamal's stimulating set at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival on July 2 (his birthday) was marked by a chamber-like sensibility and near-telepathic interplay. On the opener they demonstrate a strong affinity for swinging on an uptempo rendition of the ballad "It's You Or No One," which is underscored by drummer Fournier's brisk brushwork and tightly orchestrated accents on the kit. For their second number, the opening statements on tom toms by Fournier signify "Poinciana," eliciting immediate screams of recognition from fans upfront at Freebody Park. The particular groove played by the New Orleans born drummer here - a combination of that insinuating tom tom pulse and a pronounced kick drum accent on the 'four-and' - comes directly out of the New Orleans parade band second line experience that Fournier grew up with in the Crescent City. He organically melds that infectious N'awlins flavored groove to Jamal's beautifully poignant melodic theme on this oft-covered jazz classic, which the pianist continues to play as an encore number to this day. A master of dynamics on the keys as well as a renegade spirit who can summon up unpredictable chord voicings and surprising rhythmic cadences at the drop of a hat, Jamal plays this tune delicately, occasionally erupting with powerfully percussive block chords to drastically alter the dynamic. Fournier offers a veritable clinic here with his polyrhythmic variations on a standard second line groove.

Next up is a supremely well-crafted rendition of the standard "There Is No Greater Love," with Jamal offering sly reharmonization and rhythmic variation while swinging lightly and politely on this Isham Jones tune. His solo here is full of nuance and melodic invention, with a few nods to Erroll Garner and Earl Hines along the way as the stellar rhythm tandem of Crosby and Fournier keep a steadily swinging pulse throughout. From there they launch into a sizzling uptempo rendition of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Surrey with the Fringe On Top," a Broadway show tune from Oklahoma. With Fournier again setting the pace with his brisk brushwork on the kit, the trio navigates this breakneck tempo with remarkable precision and ease, swinging as one. They close out their set with a soulful rendition of George Gershwin's "But Not For Me," the title track from their landmark 1958 recording from the Pershing Room on Chicago's South Side. One again, Fournier's distinctive and subtle use of tom toms sets the relaxed tone. This formidable unit remained intact until 1962, at which point both Fournier and Crosby joined George Shearing's Quintet and appeared on his 1962 Blue Note recording, Jazz Moments.

A native of Pittsburgh, pianist Ahmad Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones on July 2, 1930. He started playing piano at age three and began formal study at age seven. Jazz came into his orbit as a teenager as he drew inspiration from fellow Pittsburgh native Erroll Garner along with piano greats Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie and Nat King Cole. He gained his first professional bandstand experience in 1949 with George Hudson's orchestra and later joined swing violinist Joe Kennedy's group the Four Strings. After forming his own first group in 1950 with bassist Eddie Calhoun and guitarist Ray Crawford, he was signed the following year to the Okeh label by renowned talent scout and producer John Hammond (who had previously bolstered the careers of Count Basie and Charlie Christian). He converted to Islam in 1952, changing his name to Ahmad Jamal before his first recording had been released.

In 1955, the newly formed Ahmad Jamal Trio (with Israel Crosby replacing bassist Calhoun) recorded two albums for Okeh before switching over to the Chess label's jazz subsidiary, Argo. They debuted with the innovative Chamber Music of the New Jazz, which greatly influenced both Miles Davis and Gil Evans. In 1956, Jamal replaced guitarist Crawford with a drummer, Walter Perkins, who was in turn replaced in 1958 by New Orleans native Vernell Fournier, thus cementing the classic Ahmad Jamal Trio lineup. The group took up residency in the lounge of the Pershing Hotel in Chicago, where its performances became a magnet for other musicians in town. A live album recorded there, Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me, became a crossover hit in 1958 and introduced the pianist's signature tune "Poinciana," which was underscored by Fournier's insinuating second line groove. Following the success of that album, Jamal opened his own club, the Alhambra, and recorded two albums there in 1961 -- Alhambra and All of You. His classic trio disbanded the following year and he formed a new trio with bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Chuck Lampkin. Jamal continued to record for the Argo/Cadet label through the '60s before recording a series of more experimental outings for the Impulse! label which utilized Fender Rhodes electric piano (1971's Freeflight and 1972's Outertimeinnerspace).

Jamal recorded for the 20th Century label through the '70s. After signing with Atlantic in 1985, he released such acclaimed, chart-topping recordings as Digital Works, Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Rossiter Road, Crystal and Pittsburgh, all of which showcased his percussive, vamp-oriented piano style, complex harmonies and melodic embellishments. In the '90s, he recorded for Telarc and in 1994 was named an American Jazz Master Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. Jamal subsequently signed with the French Birdology label and later recorded for another French label, Dreyfus Jazz. His most recent recording is 2008's It's Magic on Dreyfus, which features Jamal's longtime rhythm tandem of bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad.