2023 – SOJP

KAVITA SHAH

Webmaster — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

KAVITA SHAH - POETRY

Kavita Shah is an award-winning vocalist, composer, researcher, and educator who makes work in deep engagement with the jazz tradition, while also addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. A lifelong New Yorker of Indian origin hailed for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages” (NPR), Shah incorporates her ethnographic research on Brazilian, West African, and Indian musical traditions into her original repertoire.

In September 2023, after seven years of immersing in the traditional mornas and coladeiras of her idol Cesária Évora on the Atlantic island of São Vicente with Évora’s former musical director and virtuoso guitarist Bau, Shah released her latest album Cape Verdean Blues (Folkalist Records) which The Guardian has called “gorgeous” and The New York Times “quietly riveting.” Recently named a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Shah is working next on a new album of original music for her jazz quintet chronicling the journey to her ancestral villages in coastal Gujarat.

Raised in Manhattan, Shah traces her commitment to jazz to the childhood influence of uptown saxophonist Patience Higgins, a former neighbor whose band she would later join at hallowed Harlem spots like Minton’s and the Lenox Lounge. Trained first as a classical pianist, Shah spent her formative years in the prestigious Young People’s Chorus of New York City, absorbing and performing in a vast range of musical idioms. An early and enduring fascination with Spanish literature and Afro-Cuban music helped guide her to major in Latin American Studies at Harvard, where her B.A. honors research on contemporary Afro-Brazilian music and politics, drawing on fieldwork in Salvador da Bahia, won the Kenneth D. Maxwell Prize in Brazilian Studies and the Cultural Agents Thesis Prize. She was also awarded the David McCord Prize for artistic talent. After a brief stint working for The Nation magazine and Human Rights Watch, Shah went on to earn a Master of Music degree in Jazz Voice at Manhattan School of Music, where she studied voice with Theo Bleckmann and Peter Eldridge, improvisation with Steve Wilson, and composition with Jim McNeely and Nils Vigeland. She was named Downbeat’s Best Graduate Jazz Vocalist in 2012 and won the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award in 2013.

Shah’s highly-acclaimed 2014 debut album—the internationally-minded project “VISIONS” (Inner Circle Music/Naïve Records)—was co-produced by guitarist Lionel Loueke. Her 2017 Park Avenue Armory premiere “Folk Songs of Naboréa,” an interdisciplinary song-cycle for seven voices, was named by Nate Chinen (WBGO/NPR) as one of the Top 10 Jazz Performances of the year. In 2018, she released “Interplay” (Dot Time Records) in duo with bassist François Moutin, with legendary guests Martial Solal on piano and Sheila Jordan on vocals; it was nominated for France’s Victoires de la Musique for “Album jazz sensation de l’année” (Jazz Album of the Year).

Shah has sung her music at major concert halls, festivals, and clubs on six continents, including such venues as the Kennedy Center, Central Park SummerStage, Park Avenue Armory, MASS MoCA, Art Basel: Miami, Rubin Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Museum of Jazz in Harlem, Safaricom Jazz Lounge (Nairobi, Kenya), Winter Jazz Fest, San José Jazz Festival, Exit Zero Jazz Festival, BRIC JazzFest, Rochester Jazz Festival, Jazz en Tête Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Brisbane Jazz Festival, Perth Jazz Festival, Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Joe’s Pub, Duc des Lombards, and India’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. She has performed and recorded with such elders and peers as: Sheila Jordan, Martial Solal, Mulatu Astatke, Billy Childs, Steve Wilson, Nicole Mitchell, François Moutin, Greg Osby, Lionel Loueke, Miguel Zenón, Bau, Miho Hazama, Nelson Veras, Alune Wade, and Yacouba Sissoko.

From her formal training, Shah draws a keen interest in complex arrangements and adventurous approaches to the voice as an instrument, leading her to collaborate with contemporary composers like Miho Hazama, Steve Newcomb, and Alexis Cuadrado in settings ranging from chamber groups to jazz philharmonic (her work on Hazama’s “Dancer in Nowhere” was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Large Ensemble Album). Just as important to Shah, she grounds her own compositions in the art of the song as passed down through the tradition – not least by Sheila Jordan, the great NEA Jazz Master who has been her artistic and professional mentor. Shah’s research interests in traditional music practices have taken her to Brazil, Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Turkey, and India, where her work has been supported by Chamber Music America, Jerome Foundation, New Music USA, Asian Cultural Council, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, and the Hermitage Arts Retreat in Sarasota, FL. Shah credits tradition, as embodied in its elders, for grounding her own personal and artistic identity and her vision of music as not just pursuit of virtuosity, but cultural work. (Shah is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and is proficient in Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, and Cape Verdean Kriol. She has also studied Yorùbá).

A passionate educator, Shah combines her lifelong study of vocal technique in various disciplines (Western classical, jazz, Indian classical, and Jeanie LoVetri’s Somatic Voicework method) with her vast experience as a performer and improviser to guide each student to grow not only as a singer but as a consummate musician. She has worked as a Teaching Artist for Carnegie Hall’s “Lullaby Project,” Adjunct Faculty at The New School, and has offered masterclasses on vocal performance, artistry, and composition at Hunter College (New York, NY), The New School (New York, NY), California Jazz Conservatory (Berkeley, CA), University of Iowa, LaSalle College of the Arts (Singapore, SG), Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia), Porta Jazz (Porto, Portugal), Ghetto Classics (Nairobi, Kenya), Park Avenue Armory, Carnegie Hall, Rubin Museum, and BRIC. Shah is also a fierce advocate for gender and racial equity in the arts, and has led and co-led workshops and participated in panel discussions at The New School, NYU, Georgetown University, University of Pittsburgh, Bowdoin College, Winter Jazz Fest, Vision Festival, and APAP’s Wavelengths World Music Conference. She was a founding member of the Ori-Gen Collective and the We Have Voice Collective.

ANDY BEY

Webmaster — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

One of jazz music’s best-kept secrets and least-appreciated performers, Andy Bey made his musical debut as a teenager in New York and Paris, proving himself a talented instrumentalist with a versatile vocal range. After releasing his fourth album, however, he faded from public view for more than two decades, contributing to albums by fellow artists instead of working on solo material. Bey resumed his solo recording career in 1996 with a critically acclaimed release, and has since remained a perennial favorite, known for his calming vocals and mellow reveries.

Bey was born on October 28, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey. One of nine siblings, his affinity for music began to unfold at age three when he began to play the piano. Too tiny for the stool, he constantly slid from his perch. He was singing with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley by the age of eight, and as a child he was a regular performer on two television shows: Star Time Kids and Spotlight on Harlem. The precocious child even appeared at the Apollo with Louis Jordan in 1952. Bey cut his first record, “Mama’s Little Boy Got the Blues,” that same year at age 13, and some sources claim that he performed with Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan while still a teenager.

Bey attended Newark’s Arts High School but never graduated. More occupied with singing than studying, he formed Andy Bey & the Bey Sisters in 1956 with his two older sisters, Geraldine and Salome. The trio developed a following in New York’s Greenwich Village, impressing soul artist Aretha Franklin. Bey quit school during his senior year and took the group on a European tour; they spent much of their time performing at the Blue Note in Paris, where they were admired by stars like Marlon Brando and Marlene Dietrich.

The trio disbanded in 1966 after releasing two albums, Now! Hear!, and ‘Round Midnight, on Prestige. A solo album, Experience and Judgment, appeared on Atlantic in 1970, before Bey withdrew from public sight.

While shunning the media spotlight for more than two decades, Bey remained prominent nonetheless in professional music circles, performing with popular jazzmen McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smith, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, and Eddie Harris. Bey contributed vocals and instrumentals on more than 30 albums with various artists.

During these years Bey was associated most notably with pianist Horace Silver, contributing vocals to the 1970 albums That Healin’ Feelin’, Total Response (Phase I), and Total Response (Phase II). In 1970 Bey joined Gary Bartz, singing on Harlem Bush Music and adding percussion and electric piano on Juju Street Songs and Follow the Medicine Man in 1972. The versatile Bey contributed flute and vocals to Stanley Clarke’s Children of Forever in 1972 and played violin on Horace Silver’s 1999 release Retrospective. After a two-year sojourn in Austria teaching jazz vocalization, Bey returned to the United States in 1993 to contribute vocals to Silver’s hard-bop revival It’s Got to Be Funky.

In 1996 Bey released his first solo album in more than two decades on the Evidence label. The dreamy piano tracks and what Alex Henderson of All Music Guide called “heartfelt vocals” earned critical acclaim for Ballads, Blues & Bey. His equally well received 1998 follow-up, Shades of Bey featuring Bartz, drummer Victor Lewis, and bassist Peter Washington, peaked at number 24 on Billboard‘s Top Jazz Albums chart. Even as mainstream jazz hailed his return, Bey maintained that he never left the business. Although he shunned live performance and maintained a low profile during the 1970s and 1980s, his reluctance, he explained, was a wish to avoid being controlled by the commercial recording industry.

Reviewing Bey’s 2001 release, Tuesdays in Chinatown, critic Ron Scott called the Herb Jordan production one of the best male jazz vocal offerings of the year–an experience “[t]hat touches the soul with the same joy as seeing the sun and moon share the sky during an early morning interlude … constantly vibrant with a hypnotic radiance.” Steve Graybow of Billboard quoted Bey’s description of the album as a “controlled fire … simmering underneath.” The recording features Lewis, Washington, Steve Turre on trombone, and Marty Erlich on saxophone, offers a wide range of compositions, from works by Milton Nascimento and Sting to Rodgers and Hart. Bey’s distinctive arrangements and emphatic bass lines, are featured throughout, although one classic track, “I’ll Remember April,” a Ron Carter bass arrangement from 1972, is reprised by Carter himself. Bey also includes the Afro-Brazilian track “Saidas e Banderas” in the original Portuguese.

Critics concur that Bey is greatly under appreciated. His generous four-octave voice starts in the baritone range and soars upward. MusicHound Jazz critic David Prince called Bey’s falsetto “creamy, evocative, and chill-inducing.” His seemingly effortless vocal ability has earned Bey a reputation as a singer’s singer, singled out as a personal favorite by none other than the late John Coltrane. Terry Teachout, writing in Commentary, ranked Bey’s rendition of the Gershwins’ “Someone to Watch over Me” as the number-seven song in The Great American Songbook: Part 2. In January of 2002 Bey was featured among the “Singers over Manhattan” series at Lincoln Center.

In 1996 the politically outspoken Bey, no stranger to controversy since voicing his antiwar sentiments during the Vietnam era, revealed that he was both gay and HIV-positive. “I try to take one day at a time,” he told the Cincinnati CityBeat. “I don’t take a lot of medication, but communicating–not entertaining–is the best medicine. Knowing that I’m accepted heals me and makes me want to stay.”

by G. Cooksey

BETHLEHEM ROBERSON

Webmaster — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +0000

A Philadelphia native, Bethlehem has been singing since she was a child – singing by herself and vocalizing with her musical cousins. Performing around the region for over 15 years, she is in an-demand professional who has worked with numerous Philly artists and musicians, sung in churches and cafes to notable Philly venues/events including TEDx Philadelphia, The Kimmel Center, Sistah’s Attune and The Philadelphia Jazz Project. Bethlehem also headlined at the VEIA and Producer’s Guild award winning internet program Spotlight On Jazz & Poetry’s Annual Spring event “Ascension” which paid tribute to the First Lady of SOJP the late Victoria Corley.

Recently, Bethlehem teamed up with Michael Nelson Rizzo who is helping her develop her music and performance at a whole new level. Rizzo describes her, “I think Bethlehem is the best artist I’ve ever met who isn’t already signed and doing major performances. It’s only a matter of time until people know her name. The ideas, sounds and melodies she has in her head are truly unique and I feel honored to be helping her bring her creative expressions to life.”

IN HER WORDS:

I first started combining vocals with percussion – vocussionism – in 2010, out of a feeling that I had more to say in a song than I could get out with just my voice alone, more I wanted to add to the story. So, I started with handclaps, finger snaps, and stomping with whatever shoes I was wearing.

Regular shoes weren’t giving me what I wanted, weren’t cutting through enough, so I switched to tap shoes. I used them for a while, but soon realized that the metal taps didn’t produce the bass-ey sound I heard in my head.

One night at an Open Mic in Mt. Airy, Victor Puentes, a trumpet player who came in from time to time, saw me do my vocussionism thing and suggested that I get a Tarima – sort of a platform drum – made. I’d never heard of a Tarima, but as he explained I instantly became intrigued, and wanted to know more.

Victor introduced me to his uncle Polo Ramirez, a carpenter, and Polo offered to build one for me. As we sat in his place drinking coffee and tea, discussing options and making plans, she – my Tarima – started to take shape in my mind. We decided that she would be 2 by 3 feet – big enough for me to perform on yet small and light enough for me carry on SEPTA or put in the back of a car.

I wanted the best for her, so I asked if she could be made with Mahogany. Polo explained that she could, but that she would be expensive and heavy. Expensive wasn’t in my budget, and heavy wasn’t for me, so I asked Polo what other woods she could be made from. He suggested poplar for the top, and pine for the sides. Poplar struck a chord with me, but I didn’t immediately know why.

The connection with poplar came when Terri “Night Owl” Lyons, a mentor, and a lovely lady, was trying to help me reach a deeper feeling and higher sophistication with my music. “Baby it’s in you!” she’d say, “you just gotta be exposed to it”. She was talking about great jazz vocalists, namely Billie Holiday. “Strange Fruit… black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees”. The connection was made, and I got chills.

And so, I picked her up from her maker Polo Ramirez March 28, 2013, and we have had quite the journey together. Her mother is a soap box people stood on in parks and on street corners to preach or deliver a fiery political message. Her grandmother came from Spain, where women danced the Flamenco on her from dusk to dawn. Her great-grandmother is the dockside auction block America sold some of my ancestors into slavery from. Her only tattoo is my name – Bethlehem – which I wrote on her and Polo carved in. She is the house of bread from which I feed people with my music.

She’s had hundreds of shows and a few coats of shellac since then, and as we approach our 5th year together, I couldn’t have asked for a better more appropriate, powerful and truer companion.

PAT METHENY & LIZETH DUNN

Webmaster — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:26:23 +0000

PAT METHENY

Born in Kansas City on August 12, 1954 into a musical family. Starting on trumpet at the age of 8, Metheny switched to guitar at age 12. By the age of 15, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in Kansas City, receiving valuable on-the-bandstand experience at an unusually young age. Metheny first burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year stint with vibraphone great Gary Burton, the young Missouri native already displayed his soon-to-become trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility – a way of playing and improvising that was modern in conception but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues. With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life (1975), he reinvented the traditional “jazz guitar” sound for a new generation of players. Throughout his career, Pat Metheny has continued to re-define the genre by utilizing new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. METHENY’S versatility is almost nearly without peer on any instrument. Over the years, he has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich to Ornette Coleman to Herbie Hancock to Jim Hall to Milton Nascimento to David Bowie. Metheny’s body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical.

LIZETH DUNN

Lizeth Dunn (Aka LGD poet) was born on April 27, 1979, in Guayaquil, Ecuador to her Ecuadorian parents who immigrated to the United State when she was the tender age of two. She is the eighth of eleven children and has a twin sister. She grew up in an environment where abuse echoed in her home. Yet she found ways to cherish the good moments in her youth. She discovered her love for poetry twenty-five years after her first heartbreak. Lizeth continued to write in silence keeping her stories close to her heart. After the end of a long-term relationship and the passing of her mother in 2019, she garnered the courage to share and recite what she calls vulnerable poetry, with people who would listen. Lizeth is now working on her first poetry book, “Escaping The Echoes Of Myself…” to be released, independently, by the end of 2023.”

TONI WASHINGTIN

Webmaster — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 23:35:08 +0000

Toni Washingtin Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Producer is a native of Pittsburgh PA who has made Philly her home for many years. Toni is a giver who believes in working to show the audience how much she appreciates them. She is pretty well connected with the Philly Jazz and Blues scene and although she has received some formal training the best school was in The School of Live Philly Jam sessions.

She has worked with muscians who have traveled the world who have backed icons such as the late Nina Simone, Buddy Guy and Philly bands like The Delphonics,

The Stylistics and Sister Sledge and the list goes on and on. She founded a grassroots organization called Healthy Music Matters in 2000 and has been reaching out to assist performers in their time of need since then.

Back in 2012 Toni resurrected The Philadelphia Blues Society(aka) Philly Blues Society and recruited about 50 members. To date The Philly Blues Society has around 1,300 members all over the country.

Toni has performed in and around The Delaware Valley for over 3 decades and is always happy to give back. She has helped to produce two compilation projects with the help of musicians and artists with strong ties to Philly.

A TRIBUTE TO WAYNE SHORTER

Webmaster — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 21:00:35 +0000

Wayne Shorter is a jazz saxophonist and composer who has played with some of the most important jazz musicians of the past half century, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Art Blakey. With a career spanning more than five decades, he has made significant contributions to the evolution of jazz, constantly pushing creative boundaries and exploring new styles and sounds. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest living jazz musicians and composers.

Early Life and Career

Wayne Shorter was born on August 25, 1933, in Newark, New Jersey. As a child, he studied music and played clarinet before moving on to tenor saxophone. He attended New York University where he studied music education before joining the United States Army Band in the late 1950s.

Shorter’s professional music career began in earnest in the early 1960s when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. During this time, he established himself as a virtuoso saxophonist and composer, contributing a number of classic tunes to the Jazz Messenger repertoire, including “Lester Left Town” and “This is for Albert.”

Miles Davis and Fusion

In 1964, Shorter was recruited by Miles Davis to join his band in the midst of a transformative period in jazz history. With Davis, Shorter helped popularize the avant-garde style of jazz known as “fusion,” which mixed rock and psychedelia with jazz improvisation.

Shorter’s contributions to Davis’s music were remarkable, including his work on the albums “ESP,” “Miles Smiles,” and “Nefertiti.” His melodic saxophone lines and innovative harmonic approach contributed to the new sound that would shape jazz for years to come.

Solo Work and Later Career

Shorter left Davis’s band in 1970 to pursue a solo career. In the following years, he released a number of critically acclaimed albums under his own name, including “Speak No Evil,” “The All Seeing Eye,” and “Adam’s Apple.” His music continued to push boundaries and explore new territories.

In the 1980s, Shorter reunited with several of his former Miles Davis bandmates, including Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, to form the supergroup Weather Report. The band won numerous Grammy Awards and became one of the most successful jazz fusion groups of all time.

Today, at the age of 87, Shorter continues to perform and record new music. He has won numerous accolades, including 10 Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He remains an inspiration to generations of jazz musicians and fans, and his music continues to be celebrated for its innovation, creativity, and lasting impact on the jazz genre.

MICHEL PETRUCCIANI

Webmaster — Wed, 03 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Michel Petrucciani was a celebrated jazz pianist who was born on December 28, 1962, in Orange, France. Petrucciani was born with osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease which caused him to be only about three feet tall. Despite his physical challenges, Petrucciani was an incredibly talented musician who began playing piano at a very young age. He was influenced by American jazz artists like Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, and he had an innovative and unique style that fused elements of jazz, blues, and classical music.

Throughout his career, Petrucciani collaborated with some of the biggest names in jazz music, including Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, and Roy Haynes. He released more than 20 albums and received numerous awards and accolades, including the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Petrucciani passed away in 1999 at the age of 36 due to complications from a pulmonary infection. Despite his short life, his profound impact on the jazz world and music lovers worldwide has made him a legendary figure. His music continues to inspire new generations of jazz musicians and continues to be celebrated through ongoing re-releases of his recordings.

CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 23:29:51 +0000

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.” These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.

JOHNNY HARTMAN

Webmaster — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 22:46:43 +0000

By: Famous Singers

Introduction and Early Life:

Johnny Hartman is one of the most iconic jazz singers of the 1950s and ’60s, who became known for his successful jazz collaborations – including the 1965 masterwork John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – and smooth, distinctive ballads with a “velvety” baritone voice.

Born in Houma, Louisiana on July 3, 1923, he learned singing and piano at a very early age. After attending DuSable High School, he acquired a scholarship to Chicago Musical College. Hartman performed as a private in Special Services in the U.S. Army during World War II, but his professional debut came later in the mid-40s. He won a singing contest and had the opportunity to perform with Earl Hines. Hartman joined the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band when Hines’ band dissolved in 1947.

Career and Musical Achievements:

The first notable LP by Johnny Hartman, Songs From the Heart, was released in 1956 by Bethlehem Records, boasting a quartet led by the legendary bebop jazz trumpeter Howard McGhee. His second album, All of Me, also included the Frank Hunter String Orchestra. Hartman’s 1965 duet album, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, became an instant jazz masterpiece and sold very well. Comprising of a carefully picked set of ballad standards, particularly his soulfully beautiful renditions of “Lush Life” and “My One and Only Love”. He released two more albums for Impulse! Records; namely I Just Dropped By to Say Hello (1963) and The Voice That Is (1964).

Although Hartman recorded various jazz and pop albums for a number of labels during the late ’60s and early ’70s, his musical input was minimal during the 1970s. He made a strong comeback with Once In Every Life in 1980 and even received a Grammy nomination for his efforts.

Personal Life:

Johnny Hartman married Theodora “Tedi” Boyd, a dancer and private secretary, on January 25, 1958. His 1985 final recording This One’s for Tedi was a tribute to his wife.

Hartman died on September 15, 1983. He was 60 years old.

SOJP 15th ANNIVERSARY – A TRIBUTE TO JOEY DEFRANCESCO

Webmaster — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 05:26:24 +0000

Raised in Philadelphia, this is where the foundation of his musical roots in Jazz, Blues and other musical art forms were born. To hear Joey DeFrancesco today, his music embodies the traditional art form infused with a distinct modern approach, just part of what makes his music unmistakably his own.

” He has dominated the instrument and the field as no one of his generation has.” – Chicago Tribune

“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

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, sitting in 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, Van Morrison, Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, James Moody, John Scofield, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Cobb, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn and many more. The five 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.”

More Music, via Mack Avenue Records, is “more” in every conceivable way. It offers up ten new DeFrancesco originals, brought to life by a scintillating new trio. And the master organist, who has long supplemented his keyboard virtuoso with his skilled trumpet playing, here brings out his full arsenal: organ, keyboard, piano, trumpet, and, for the first time on record, tenor saxophone.