Joey DeFrancesco

Born: April 10, 1971

Joey DeFrancesco’s emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had been a form of music that literally went into hibernation from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties largely because of the introduction of high-tech, light-weight keyboards. It was Joey, however, that ignited the flame once again with the sound of his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie tone cabinet.

He not only illuminated this once dormant music form but brought back the many proponents of jazz organ who had been shuffled by record producers and club owners to lesser roles within the music industry. Befriending and supporting those who preceded him, Joey became the new-age proponent of an instrument that had been pushed aside in favor of the growing technology. Considered a child prodigy, Joey remembers as far back as age four, playing jazz tunes modeled by his father, Papa John DeFrancesco and memorizing music from the many jazz albums in their home. Papa John, a jazz organist himself, took young Joey under his wing and nurtured his rapidly developing skills, bringing Joey along with him to gigs, Joey would sit-in with as many seasoned Philadelphia musicians who were around.

Dom Franks' Strayhorn: Duality Pt: 02

by Neil Duggan
September 5, 2025

Having whetted our appetite with Duality Pt: 01 (Self-Produced, 2024), saxophonist Dom Franks, together with his band StrayHorn, returns with Duality Pt: 02, revealing another side of the saxophonist's impressive range as a composer. Whilst the first release leaned into funky Hammond grooves inspired by Larry Goldings and Joey DeFrancesco, this follow-up moves in a different ...

Exploration by the Marcus Roberts Trio, Interview with VA Virginia Schenck re Jazz at All Saints Including Nnenna Freelon & Brandee Younger, Keyboard Jazz With Bobby Timmons, Joey DeFrancesco, Azymuth and More

by David W. Daniels
September 3, 2025

Interview with local Atlanta jazz vocalist “VA" Virginia Schenck about the Jazz At All Saints series, which will include Nnenna Freelon and Brandee Younger. End of the month keyboard special--featuring organists, pianists, Fender Rhodes and synthesizer jazz artists. Playlist Marcus Roberts Trio “Exploration"--from Time And Circumstance (Columbia) 00:00 Interview Segment #1 with VA Virginia ...

Mitch Towne: Refuge

by Kyle Simpler
June 19, 2025

After organ trios came to prominence during the 1950s, jazz groove has never been the same. Performers like Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and most notably Jimmy Smith introduced a new level of soul to jazz music. With Refuge, organist Mitch Towne makes a compelling debut as a leader, adding his name to a who's who of ...

A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz: Part 3

by Ian Patterson
May 14, 2025

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 The third installment of A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz--a series developed with the cooperation of the Ukrainian Institute--introduces five more highly talented jazz artists/groups from Ukraine. The vast range of personal musical identities attests to the strength, depth and originality of contemporary ...

Organ Freeman: Busywork

by Ian Patterson
April 30, 2025

Not to be confused with the Los Angles-based organ trio of the same name--though it is hard to see how confusion will not reign--this Organ Freeman hails from Dublin, Ireland, where guitarist/vocalist Charlie Moon, organist Darragh Hennessy and drummer Dominic Mullan have held a Sunday residency at The Big Romance since 2018. For its debut album, ...

Nick Hempton-Cory Weeds: Horns Locked

by Jack Bowers
April 20, 2025

It has been far too long since anyone had the pleasure of eavesdropping on a two-tenor duel as heated and expressive as the one between Canadian gurus Nick Hempton and Cory Weeds on the suitably named Horns Locked. As the album's opening number, James Moody's fast-chugging “Last Train from Overbrook," unfolded, the memories came flooding back: ...

A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz: Part 2

by Ian Patterson
March 19, 2025

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 The second installment of A Brief Guide To Ukrainian Jazz--a series developed with the cooperation of the Ukrainian Institute--introduces five more highly talented jazz artists/groups from Ukraine. In addition, we profile the jazz festivals and jazz clubs that are keeping the Ukrainian jazz ...

Ten Terrific Sax Plus Organ Combinations

by Artur Moral
February 12, 2025

OK, maybe the electric guitar was its first and most celebrated love affair, but the organ's alliances with the saxophone's family members are undoubtedly among the richest musical combinations, both in terms of sound and the intense interrelationships that typically develop in such encounters. Whether it be a tenor with a Hammond, a soprano with an ...

Yulia Musayelyan, Rebecca Coupe Franks Plus Vocalists Eugenie Jones, Claire Martin, Marianne Solivan

by Mary Foster Conklin
January 27, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from Yulia Musayelyan, Rebecca Coupe Franks, Eugenie Jones, Claire Martin, Marianne Solivan} and {{Chloe Youtsey, with birthday shoutouts to Melba Liston, Danny Bacher, Kris Davis, Sade, Chelsea McBride, Andrea Wolper, Tina Raymond, Peter Eldridge, Nicole Zuraitis, Joan Baez and Eartha Kitt, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you ...