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Published 11/21/2011 By Owen Cordle Next Article

Joey DeFrancesco: 40 REVIEWS


Tim Berne: Insomnia
Owen Cordle reviews organ master Joey DeFrancesco's '40' Previous Article
REVIEWS
This album celebrates Joey DeFrancescos 40th
birthday. Twenty-three years ago he was playing piano Kenny Burrell: Tenderly: Solo Guitar Concert
with Miles Davis. Shortly thereafter, he sparked a
revival of jazz organ that, thankfully, continues today.
While 40 has no grand design beyond DeFrancescos
previous organ trio albums, its keep-on-keeping-on
vitality infects you. The middle of the program is
especially strong: the soul-music groove of One
Hundred Ways, a fast-stepping/marching Ive Got a
Woman and V & G, an easygoing DeFrancesco
original with a wah-wahing organ melody backed by
guitarist Rick Zunigars Freddie Green-like accompaniment. DeFrancescos Bluz n
3, a jazz waltz, also scores with the organists Jimmy Smith roots on display.

Zunigar-new to the trio, as is drummer Ramon Banda-offers swinging solo lines and
clean articulation reminiscent of George Benson (and, by lineage, Grant Green and
Wes Montgomery) throughout the set. He knows how to complement DeFrancescos
groove. Banda, a veteran of Poncho Sanchezs band, is an interactive drummer-not
too busy but making his presence felt and heard in a variety of tonal and rhythmic
ways. Pay attention to his tuning on the opening Donnys Tune.

A couple of times during the set, DeFrancesco cools his ebullient virtuosity long
enough to perform ballads: His Gloria (which he sings in an expressive, low-key
manner) and Lucio Dallas Caruso. The change of pace turns the scene into an
intimate nightclub, and the ever-youthful DeFrancesco scores again with this birthday
present.

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