Joey DeFrancesco: Live at Keystone Korner

Joey DeFrancesco is one of the most tragic stories of 21st-century jazz. After the deaths of mid-twentieth-century organ greats Jimmy Smith and Larry Young, the Hammond B-3 became somewhat unfashionable until DeFrancesco's dynamic, virtuosic style helped reignite the jazz community's passion for the instrument. DeFrancesco was prolific and engaging and the perfect ambassador for the organ, until a sudden heart attack tragically cut short his life at age 51, while he was still in the prime of his career.

A mere weeks before DeFrancesco's untimely death in August 2022, he and his trio completed a series of dates at the storied jazz club Keystone Korner Baltimore. Selections from these performances are now available on record as Live at Keystone Korner. The collection, consisting of a blazing, exhilarating performance by DeFrancesco and his trio, is a fantastic addition to DeFrancesco's catalog, if also a profoundly upsetting reminder of the music the community will never get to experience.

Lucas Brown (guitar/keyboard) and Anwar Marshall (drums) joined DeFrancesco on the dates. Notably, Brown's ability to take on the keyboard allowed DeFrancesco to step out from behind the keyboard himself to demonstrate his true genius not just as an organist, but as a master multi-instrumentalist whose talent for jazz music generally enabled him to excel at brass and woodwinds (as well as sing, although this album is purely instrumental). In addition to organ, DeFrancesco also plays the trumpet and tenor saxophone on the album, and this movement, rather than being gimmicky, enhances the listening experience with its diversity and range.

The tracks on the live album consist solely of DeFrancesco originals, including several extended jams that allow the musicians to breathe. The band swings hard on the two opening tracks, each from DeFrancesco's album In The Key Of The Universe (Mack Avenue Records, 2019) (which is well-represented on the collection)—"Awake and Blissed" and "Vibrations in Blue." The band blends the two tracks into one another to sustain the vibe created, the former more groove-forward and funkier, the latter dreamier and somewhat polyrhythmic highlighted by a killer organ solo.

The next two tracks feature DeFrancesco tackling, respectively, the trumpet and tenor saxophone, and it is truly mind-blowing how his prowess on each of these instruments almost matches the one for which he is famous. "Free" begins with DeFrancesco on a muted trumpet (a possible homage to former boss Miles Davis), but then he loses the mute and goes all-out into hard bop territory. "Lady G," dedicated to DeFrancesco's widow Gloria, features tenor saxophone out front, and it is gloriously romantic and soulful. Not to be outdone, the band loses nothing when Brown replaces DeFrancesco on the keys on these two tracks, and Marshall in particular provides a ripping drum solo on "Free."

The band gives In Times of Reflection's title track a long, comfortable treatment, which provides each musician plenty of space and breathability. Brown's guitar is out front during much of the duration, and his playing is casually subtle, yet the absence of acrobatics adds a directness that makes the instrumentation particularly effective. "One More Blues" concludes the collection, and it is a jam, beginning with a head-nodding funky Marshall beat before DeFrancesco adds his groovy organ, finally joined by Brown's bluesy guitar tones. DeFrancesco—and the chemistry possessed by this band—are and will continue to be sorely missed.