JOEY DE FRANCESCO WITH SPECIAL GUEST JIMMY SMITH
''INCREDIBLE!''
1999
66:21
1/The Champ
Dizzy Gillespie/13:02
2/When You're Smilin'
Mark Fisher / Joe Goodwin / Larry Shay/7:16
3/The Good Life
Sacha Distel / Jack Reardon/8:36
4/(Back Home Again In) Indiana
James F. Hanley / Ballard MacDonald/10:55
5/Medley No. 1: The Reverend/Yesterday/My Romance Feat. Jimmy Smith
Otto Harbach / Lorenz Hart / Jerome Kern / Richard Rodgers / Jimmy Smith/15:12
6/Medley No. 2: The Skeezer/St. Thomas Feat. Jimmy Smith
Sonny Rollins / Jimmy Smith/11:20
Paul Bollenback/Guitar
Joey DeFrancesco/Organ, Organ (Hammond)
Dave Fischer/Keyboards, Organ,
Byron Landham/Cymbals, Drums
Jimmy Smith/Organ
Phil Upchurch/Guitar
Frank Wilson/Drums
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
Incredible! documents a unique musical encounter, the first time that Jimmy Smith has recorded with another organist, the equally great Joey DeFrancesco. First DeFrancesco is heard with his usual trio (with guitarist Paul Bollenbeck and drummer Byron Landham), racing through heated versions of "The Champ," "When You're Smiling," and "Indiana" in addition to an emotional rendition of "The Good Life." The music is as exciting as one would expect from DeFrancesco. For the second half of the CD, Smith and his trio join the younger organist on a pair of medleys. The first one starts out with the blues "The Reverend" but then, after three-and-a-half minutes, it segues into an odd wandering version of "Yesterdays" before closing with "My Romance." The second medley -- six-and-a-half minutes of Smith's blues "The Skeezer" that becomes a heated "St. Thomas" -- is more like it. The two organists are quite compatible (DeFrancesco has long had Smith's style down pat) and, although the results are not quite Incredible! (it is far from shocking that these two organ masters can jam a blues together!), this CD should greatly interest both organ fans and jazz historians.
BIOGRAPHY (JOEY DEFRANCESCO)
by Steve Huey
The music of Joey DeFrancesco -- an important force in the revival of the Hammond B-3 organ as a jazz instrument -- runs the gamut from soul-jazz and bluesy grooves à la Jimmy Smith to hard bop to the more advanced modal style of Coltrane disciple Larry Young. Born in Springfield, PA (near Philadelphia), on April 10, 1971, DeFrancesco was the son of another Philly-area jazz organist, Papa John DeFrancesco, and the grandson of multi-instrumentalist Joe DeFrancesco, who worked with the Dorsey Brothers. He began playing piano at age four and quickly switched to his father's instrument, preferring the sound of the Hammond B-3 over the modern synthesizers that had become the dominant alternative to piano. He began sitting in at his father's club gigs around age six; by age ten, he was performing paying gigs on the weekends and sitting in with artists like Jack McDuff and Groove Holmes.
DeFrancesco continued to study through high school, drawing from Philadelphia's rich jazz organ heritage and the numerous veteran players who still found work on the city's club scene. At 16, he was the first recipient of the Philadelphia Jazz Society's McCoy Tyner Scholarship, and was also a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He met Miles Davis on a local television show and impressed the trumpeter enough that DeFrancesco was invited on tour following his high-school graduation in 1988.
After appearing on the well-received Live Around the World and Amandla albums, DeFrancesco scored a solo deal with Columbia and released his debut as a leader, All of Me, in 1989. Four more Columbia albums followed (Where Were You?, Part III, Reboppin', Live at the Five Spot), one per year, and DeFrancesco's reputation grew steadily, helped by the fact that as a virtuosic yet vintage-style organist, he was something of an anomaly on the early-'90s jazz scene. His arrival presaged -- and, in fact, helped kick-start -- a renewal of interest in organ jazz of all stripes, and he remained one of the most versatile and advanced of the new breed of players; inspired by Davis, he even picked up the trumpet as a second instrument.
After parting ways with Columbia, DeFrancesco recorded sets for Muse and Big Mo, and began working extensively with guitarist John McLaughlin. His appearance on 1994's After the Rain and his subsequent international tour with McLaughlin brought him to a whole new audience. He spent the next few years working mostly as a sideman, however, and returned to the studio under his own name in 1998, recording All or Nothing at All for Big Mo; he also appeared with his father on All in the Family for High Note. The following year brought The Champ, a tribute to Jimmy Smith (also on High Note), and a new record deal with Concord Jazz, which kicked off with the Mafia movie soundtrack tribute Goodfellas.
DeFrancesco finally teamed up with longtime hero Jimmy Smith for 2000's Incredible!, and issued the Concord follow-up Singin' and Swingin' in 2001, which spotlighted his easygoing vocals. In the meantime, he also continued to record sessions for High Note, including the sequel The Champ: Round 2 (2000) and another tribute to one of his influences, The Philadelphia Connection: A Tribute to Don Patterson (2002). Always a busy and prolific artist, DeFrancesco released five albums in the next five years: 2003's Falling in Love Again, which featured jazz singer Joe Doggs; 2004's Plays Sinatra His Way; 2005's Legacy, again with Jimmy Smith; and 2006's Organic Vibes. Live: The Authorized Bootleg followed in 2007 from Concord Records, while Joey D! appeared in 2008. In 2009, DeFrancesco paid tribute to one his idols with Finger Poppin: Celebrating the Music of Horace Silver. In 2010, DeFrancesco returned with the similarly minded tribute album Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson.
BIOGRAPHY (JIMMY SMITH)
by Mark Deming
Jimmy Smith wasn't the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and style made him a top instrumentalist in the 1950s and '60s, while a number of rock and R&B keyboardists would learn valuable lessons from Smith's example.
James Oscar Smith was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1928 (some sources cite his birth year as 1925). Smith's father was a musician and entertainer, and young Jimmy joined his song-and-dance act when he was six years old. By the time he was 12, Smith was an accomplished stride piano player who won local talent contests, but when his father began having problems with his knee and gave up performing to work as a plasterer, Jimmy quit school after eighth grade and began working odd jobs to help support the family. At 15, Smith joined the Navy, and when he returned home, he attended music school on the GI Bill, studying at the Hamilton School of Music and the Ornstein School, both based in Philadelphia.
In 1951, Smith began playing with several R&B acts in Philadelphia while working with his father during the day, but after hearing pioneering organ player Wild Bill Davis, Smith was inspired to switch instruments. Smith bought a Hammond B-3 organ and set up a practice space in a warehouse where he and his father were working; Smith refined the rudiments of his style over the next year (informed more closely by horn players than other keyboard artists, and employing innovative use of the bass pedals and drawbars), and he began playing Philadelphia clubs in 1955. In early 1956, Smith made his New York debut at the legendary Harlem nightspot Small's Paradise, and Smith was soon spotted by Alfred Lion, who ran the well-respected jazz label Blue Note Records. Lion signed Smith to a record deal, and between popular early albums such as The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand and The Champ and legendary appearances at New York's Birdland and the Newport Jazz Festival, Smith became the hottest new name in jazz.
A prolific recording artist, Smith recorded more than 30 albums for Blue Note between 1956 and 1963, collaborating with the likes of Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, and Jackie McLean, and in 1963, Smith signed a new record deal with Verve. Smith's first album for Verve, Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, was a critical and commercial success, and the track "Walk on the Wild Side" became a minor hit. Smith maintained his busy performing and recording schedule throughout the 1960s, and in 1966 he cut a pair of celebrated album with guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1972, Smith's contract with Verve expired, and tired of his demanding tour schedule, he and his wife opened a supper club in California's San Fernando Valley. Smith performed regularly at the club, but it went out of business after only a few years. While Smith continued to record regularly for a variety of labels, his days as a star appeared to be over.
However, in the late '80s, Smith began recording for the Milestone label, cutting several well-reviewed albums that reminded jazz fans Smith was still a master at his instrument, as did a number of live performances with fellow organ virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco. In 1987, producer Quincy Jones invited Smith to play on the sessions for Michael Jackson's album Bad. And Smith found a new generation of fans when hip-hop DJs began sampling Smith's funky organ grooves; the Beastie Boys famously used Smith's "Root Down (And Get It)" for their song "Root Down," and other Smith performances became the basis for tracks by Nas, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, and DJ Shadow.
In 1995, Smith returned to Verve Records for the album Damn!, and on 2001's Dot Com Blues, Smith teamed up with a variety of blues and R&B stars, including Etta James, B.B. King, Keb' Mo', and Dr. John. In 2004, Smith was honored as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts; that same year, Smith relocated from Los Angeles to Scottsdale, Arizona. Several months after settling in Scottsdale, Smith's wife succumbed to cancer, and while he continued to perform and record, Jimmy Smith was found dead in his home less than a year later, on February 8, 2005. His final album, Legacy, was released several months after his passing.
''INCREDIBLE!''
1999
66:21
1/The Champ
Dizzy Gillespie/13:02
2/When You're Smilin'
Mark Fisher / Joe Goodwin / Larry Shay/7:16
3/The Good Life
Sacha Distel / Jack Reardon/8:36
4/(Back Home Again In) Indiana
James F. Hanley / Ballard MacDonald/10:55
5/Medley No. 1: The Reverend/Yesterday/My Romance Feat. Jimmy Smith
Otto Harbach / Lorenz Hart / Jerome Kern / Richard Rodgers / Jimmy Smith/15:12
6/Medley No. 2: The Skeezer/St. Thomas Feat. Jimmy Smith
Sonny Rollins / Jimmy Smith/11:20
Paul Bollenback/Guitar
Joey DeFrancesco/Organ, Organ (Hammond)
Dave Fischer/Keyboards, Organ,
Byron Landham/Cymbals, Drums
Jimmy Smith/Organ
Phil Upchurch/Guitar
Frank Wilson/Drums
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
Incredible! documents a unique musical encounter, the first time that Jimmy Smith has recorded with another organist, the equally great Joey DeFrancesco. First DeFrancesco is heard with his usual trio (with guitarist Paul Bollenbeck and drummer Byron Landham), racing through heated versions of "The Champ," "When You're Smiling," and "Indiana" in addition to an emotional rendition of "The Good Life." The music is as exciting as one would expect from DeFrancesco. For the second half of the CD, Smith and his trio join the younger organist on a pair of medleys. The first one starts out with the blues "The Reverend" but then, after three-and-a-half minutes, it segues into an odd wandering version of "Yesterdays" before closing with "My Romance." The second medley -- six-and-a-half minutes of Smith's blues "The Skeezer" that becomes a heated "St. Thomas" -- is more like it. The two organists are quite compatible (DeFrancesco has long had Smith's style down pat) and, although the results are not quite Incredible! (it is far from shocking that these two organ masters can jam a blues together!), this CD should greatly interest both organ fans and jazz historians.
BIOGRAPHY (JOEY DEFRANCESCO)
by Steve Huey
The music of Joey DeFrancesco -- an important force in the revival of the Hammond B-3 organ as a jazz instrument -- runs the gamut from soul-jazz and bluesy grooves à la Jimmy Smith to hard bop to the more advanced modal style of Coltrane disciple Larry Young. Born in Springfield, PA (near Philadelphia), on April 10, 1971, DeFrancesco was the son of another Philly-area jazz organist, Papa John DeFrancesco, and the grandson of multi-instrumentalist Joe DeFrancesco, who worked with the Dorsey Brothers. He began playing piano at age four and quickly switched to his father's instrument, preferring the sound of the Hammond B-3 over the modern synthesizers that had become the dominant alternative to piano. He began sitting in at his father's club gigs around age six; by age ten, he was performing paying gigs on the weekends and sitting in with artists like Jack McDuff and Groove Holmes.
DeFrancesco continued to study through high school, drawing from Philadelphia's rich jazz organ heritage and the numerous veteran players who still found work on the city's club scene. At 16, he was the first recipient of the Philadelphia Jazz Society's McCoy Tyner Scholarship, and was also a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He met Miles Davis on a local television show and impressed the trumpeter enough that DeFrancesco was invited on tour following his high-school graduation in 1988.
After appearing on the well-received Live Around the World and Amandla albums, DeFrancesco scored a solo deal with Columbia and released his debut as a leader, All of Me, in 1989. Four more Columbia albums followed (Where Were You?, Part III, Reboppin', Live at the Five Spot), one per year, and DeFrancesco's reputation grew steadily, helped by the fact that as a virtuosic yet vintage-style organist, he was something of an anomaly on the early-'90s jazz scene. His arrival presaged -- and, in fact, helped kick-start -- a renewal of interest in organ jazz of all stripes, and he remained one of the most versatile and advanced of the new breed of players; inspired by Davis, he even picked up the trumpet as a second instrument.
After parting ways with Columbia, DeFrancesco recorded sets for Muse and Big Mo, and began working extensively with guitarist John McLaughlin. His appearance on 1994's After the Rain and his subsequent international tour with McLaughlin brought him to a whole new audience. He spent the next few years working mostly as a sideman, however, and returned to the studio under his own name in 1998, recording All or Nothing at All for Big Mo; he also appeared with his father on All in the Family for High Note. The following year brought The Champ, a tribute to Jimmy Smith (also on High Note), and a new record deal with Concord Jazz, which kicked off with the Mafia movie soundtrack tribute Goodfellas.
DeFrancesco finally teamed up with longtime hero Jimmy Smith for 2000's Incredible!, and issued the Concord follow-up Singin' and Swingin' in 2001, which spotlighted his easygoing vocals. In the meantime, he also continued to record sessions for High Note, including the sequel The Champ: Round 2 (2000) and another tribute to one of his influences, The Philadelphia Connection: A Tribute to Don Patterson (2002). Always a busy and prolific artist, DeFrancesco released five albums in the next five years: 2003's Falling in Love Again, which featured jazz singer Joe Doggs; 2004's Plays Sinatra His Way; 2005's Legacy, again with Jimmy Smith; and 2006's Organic Vibes. Live: The Authorized Bootleg followed in 2007 from Concord Records, while Joey D! appeared in 2008. In 2009, DeFrancesco paid tribute to one his idols with Finger Poppin: Celebrating the Music of Horace Silver. In 2010, DeFrancesco returned with the similarly minded tribute album Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson.
BIOGRAPHY (JIMMY SMITH)
by Mark Deming
Jimmy Smith wasn't the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and style made him a top instrumentalist in the 1950s and '60s, while a number of rock and R&B keyboardists would learn valuable lessons from Smith's example.
James Oscar Smith was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1928 (some sources cite his birth year as 1925). Smith's father was a musician and entertainer, and young Jimmy joined his song-and-dance act when he was six years old. By the time he was 12, Smith was an accomplished stride piano player who won local talent contests, but when his father began having problems with his knee and gave up performing to work as a plasterer, Jimmy quit school after eighth grade and began working odd jobs to help support the family. At 15, Smith joined the Navy, and when he returned home, he attended music school on the GI Bill, studying at the Hamilton School of Music and the Ornstein School, both based in Philadelphia.
In 1951, Smith began playing with several R&B acts in Philadelphia while working with his father during the day, but after hearing pioneering organ player Wild Bill Davis, Smith was inspired to switch instruments. Smith bought a Hammond B-3 organ and set up a practice space in a warehouse where he and his father were working; Smith refined the rudiments of his style over the next year (informed more closely by horn players than other keyboard artists, and employing innovative use of the bass pedals and drawbars), and he began playing Philadelphia clubs in 1955. In early 1956, Smith made his New York debut at the legendary Harlem nightspot Small's Paradise, and Smith was soon spotted by Alfred Lion, who ran the well-respected jazz label Blue Note Records. Lion signed Smith to a record deal, and between popular early albums such as The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand and The Champ and legendary appearances at New York's Birdland and the Newport Jazz Festival, Smith became the hottest new name in jazz.
A prolific recording artist, Smith recorded more than 30 albums for Blue Note between 1956 and 1963, collaborating with the likes of Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, and Jackie McLean, and in 1963, Smith signed a new record deal with Verve. Smith's first album for Verve, Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, was a critical and commercial success, and the track "Walk on the Wild Side" became a minor hit. Smith maintained his busy performing and recording schedule throughout the 1960s, and in 1966 he cut a pair of celebrated album with guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1972, Smith's contract with Verve expired, and tired of his demanding tour schedule, he and his wife opened a supper club in California's San Fernando Valley. Smith performed regularly at the club, but it went out of business after only a few years. While Smith continued to record regularly for a variety of labels, his days as a star appeared to be over.
However, in the late '80s, Smith began recording for the Milestone label, cutting several well-reviewed albums that reminded jazz fans Smith was still a master at his instrument, as did a number of live performances with fellow organ virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco. In 1987, producer Quincy Jones invited Smith to play on the sessions for Michael Jackson's album Bad. And Smith found a new generation of fans when hip-hop DJs began sampling Smith's funky organ grooves; the Beastie Boys famously used Smith's "Root Down (And Get It)" for their song "Root Down," and other Smith performances became the basis for tracks by Nas, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, and DJ Shadow.
In 1995, Smith returned to Verve Records for the album Damn!, and on 2001's Dot Com Blues, Smith teamed up with a variety of blues and R&B stars, including Etta James, B.B. King, Keb' Mo', and Dr. John. In 2004, Smith was honored as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts; that same year, Smith relocated from Los Angeles to Scottsdale, Arizona. Several months after settling in Scottsdale, Smith's wife succumbed to cancer, and while he continued to perform and record, Jimmy Smith was found dead in his home less than a year later, on February 8, 2005. His final album, Legacy, was released several months after his passing.
