Search - Joey Defrancesco :: Champ: Dedicated to Jimmy Smith

Champ: Dedicated to Jimmy Smith
Joey Defrancesco
Champ: Dedicated to Jimmy Smith
Genres: Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (9) - Disc #1

When Jimmy Smith arrived on the jazz scene in the early 1950s, he played the Hammond B-3 organ in a revolutionary manner. Previously, in the hands of greats such as Thomas "Fats" Waller and "Wild" Bill Davis, the organ had...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Joey Defrancesco
Title: Champ: Dedicated to Jimmy Smith
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: HighNote Records
Original Release Date: 5/11/1999
Re-Release Date: 5/18/1999
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Styles: Modern Postbebop, Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo, Bebop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 632375703226

Synopsis

Amazon.com
When Jimmy Smith arrived on the jazz scene in the early 1950s, he played the Hammond B-3 organ in a revolutionary manner. Previously, in the hands of greats such as Thomas "Fats" Waller and "Wild" Bill Davis, the organ had functioned more as an orchestral instrument than a solo vehicle. That changed with Jimmy Smith. He had a riveting, single-note style and a knack for hard-swinging ideas, and he fleshed out his approach by delivering bass lines on foot pedals. He also played to an audience, getting listeners aroused with a bag of musical tricks. Smith has attracted numerous disciples, and there's none better than Joey DeFrancesco, a Philadelphian who emerged in the late 1980s, playing with Miles Davis and then making several noteworthy albums. A major contemporary organ voice, DeFrancesco is a fluid, impressive soloist who here teams with guitarist Randy Johnston and drummer Billy Hart in covering nine ace numbers of the Smith repertoire. "Mack the Knife" finds DeFrancesco playing with a thickly textured, "roller-rink" sound and digging into that trick bag, repeating a lick over and over. On "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," the leader employs a creamier sound and plays rapid, bluesy lines. "Organ Grinder's Swing" is indeed a cooker, while "The Road Song" flows, featuring a bubbling DeFrancesco effort and Johnston's appealing Wes Montgomery-inspired guitar. The title track is jackrabbit fast, and fun. Master trapsman Hart pushes it all with élan. --Zan Stewart
 

CD Reviews

Always two there are!
D. Bassett | Swindon, Wiltshire England | 09/03/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"A Master and an Apprentice. Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco? Not quite; both Masters. You want home cookin? Take prime Smith soaked in riffs, pop it in your Hammond. No need to simmer for 20 minutes, this is 4 minute fast food, a jazz feast. Sprinkle with hints of Burrell, Swartz and Montgomery and serve with lashings of Jo Jones and Tate. Afterwards sit back and smoke vintage Holmes, McGriff and Macduff and finish it off with a cup of Dennerlein. Sensory overload!"
A Good Jazz Organ CD
Derrick | 05/15/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have this new CD. Joey does the songs that made organist Jimmy Smith famous. Not all of my favorite tunes are on this CD, but enough of them to satisfy me. Also the organ sound is kind of too tone cabinet sound with extra reverb, rather than Leslie rotating speaker sound. It doesn't have that raunchy sound I'm used to hearing from Joey. I wish he had put his own sound to Jimmy Smiths songs. All in all, it's a great CD to add to your Joey Defrancesco collection."
If you never heard of Organ Jazz Buy this one
Derrick | 08/04/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Joey Defrancesco pays tribute to all Jazz muscians.Especially Jimmy Smith. Organ great and true Organ Jazz to the forefront. "Mack the Knife" is a classic sound of the Organ in play. Also, check out "All in the Family" his last Album. It's Just as great too."