Hot Off The Presses, Joey DeFrancesco’s Final Recording: Live at Keystone Korner – On Mack Avenue Records

This article originally appeared on Jazz Police.

by Don Berryman

Joey DeFrancesco’s last public performance was recorded at KeyStone Korner in Baltimore, MD, just days before his death from a heart attack on August 25, 2022. His sudden death at the age of 51 left us shocked and saddened. I am grateful to have this performance preserved, giving us his music captured at his creative peak. Live at Keystone Korner features Joey on organ, trumpet, and tenor sax along with another multi-instrumentalist, Lucas Brown, on guitar and organ, and with Aswan Marshal on drums. This was Joey’s final trio, and they had been together for a few years. We saw this same trio at Crooner’s in the Twin Cities in 2021 and that show was sensational. They spent several nights at KeyStone Korner and warmed up even more.

They played all original Joey D compositions, almost all first released on his two most recent studio albums. “Awake and Blissed”, “Vibrations in Blue”, and “Inner Being” first appeared on the album In The Key Of The Universe in 2019. “Free”, “Lady G” (written for his wife, Gloria)’, “In Times of Reflection”, and “Roll With It” first appeared on More Music in 2021 (which I included in my list of best albums released in 2021).

In the liner notes bassist Christian McBride talks about growing up with Joey in Philadelphia. What McBride doesn’t mention was that in 1987 Miles Davis was a guest on a Philadelphia television program (Timeout or the Bill Boggs Show) where a young DeFrancesco was playing in the house band alongside bassist McBride. The show was meant to showcase local trumpet students meeting Miles Davis. Miles seemed uninterested in talking with a trumpet player and interrupting him asked “what’s your organ player’s name?”. Days later the 16 year old Joey got a call from Miles and the following year he joined Miles’ group at 17 and toured throughout 1988 into 1989 and played keyboards on Davis’s 1989 album Amandla, as well as appearing on posthumous/live releases like Live Around the World. Inspired by watching Davis night after night on tour, DeFrancesco picked up the trumpet and practiced intensely for months. When he told Davis, Davis handed him his horn and said “let me hear you”. After listening to him play he said “You sound just like me,” He later gave Joey some pointers and some mouthpieces and a couple mutes – one of which he continued to use throughout his career and presumably is the one he used on this recording. You can hear Miles’ influence when Joey plays a muted trumpet on “Free” which opens side B of the album.

In a Downbeat Magazine Interview Joey talks about taking up saxophone after having Pharoah Sanders play on his album In The Key Of The Universe. “… when Pharoah pulled his horn out in the studio, he was like this far from me,” he said, holding his hand about 18 inches from his face. “The bell of the horn was right here, and he played a G, and it was just — my hair stood up. That sound. I mean, there was always a special feeling every time I’d hear the saxophone, but that just solidified it. After that session, I was just, I want to start playing the saxophone.” After a few years of woodshedding on tenor he put together this trio with Lucas Brown who was adept in playing both organ and guitar. Joey could play trumpet one handed while playing organ (and I’ve seen him do it a number of times) but that was not possible with the tenor sax. Joey said this was the trio he dreamed of having and they made the album More Music in 2021. On Live at Keystone Korner you hear him playing tenor on “Lady G” with Lucas on organ.

Side A opens with a real burner. “Awake and Blissed’ is an intricate composition taken at break-neck speed, Joey exploits his skills extracting different timbres on the B3 and Anwar delivers a fiery drum solo to finish. It is followed by ‘Vibrations in Blue” which starts with a spacey, note bending intro on organ, opening to a guitar solo by Lucas. Followed by Joey’s solo that brings it to a boil with Anware soloing over organ vamps.

Side B opens with Lucas moving to the organ and Joey killing it with Miles-inspired muted trumpet on the boppish “Free”. Joey then continues without the mute before giving way for Lucas to solo. Lucas’ style is distinctly different from Joey showing more of a Larry Young influence. Lucas remains on organ for the ballad “Lady G”. Joey moves to the tenor and plays soulfully.

Side C opens gently with another ballad, the thoughtful “In Times of Reflection” Joey had returned to the organ and Lucas to the guitar. The organ is just brilliant with harmonies building as the sound expands throughout. On “Inner Being” the temple moves up a ltțle. There is very nice interplay between them with Lucas delivering a Grant Green style solo.

Side D opens with the playful and swinging “Roll With It”. Lucas’ guitar is a little Wes Montgomery influenced on this and Joey is on fire leading up to the moment where he and Anwar swap fours. Finally it closes with “One More Blues” a funky groove with a down-home vibe that belies the virtuosity.

Throughout Joey plays the organ flawlessly, soulfully and with an incredible groove.There is no one I would rather hear on the B3 than Joey D, and this final record is a masterpiece.

“I will always miss Joey DeFrancesco. There will never be another musician quite like him, and there will never be another friend quite like him, either. But he left us with the music-and when it’s this powerful, this alive, this true-that legacy never fades”. -Christian McBride, Liner Notes for Live at Keystone Korner

Track Listing