1. Introduction - Joey
2. Cherokee
3. Ceora
4. I'm in the Mood for Love
5. On Green Dolphin Street
6. Little Girl Blue
7. Autumn Leaves
Joey DeFrancesco – Hammond B3 organ and keyboard
George Coleman - Saxophone
Byron Landham - Drums
Jake Langley - Guitar
Colleen McNabb - Vocals (track 4)
Since
the sad demise of Jimmy Smith, who is my favourite
jazz organist? One of the strongest contenders
must be Joey DeFrancesco. Indeed, he was one
of my favourites when Jimmy Smith was still
alive. The album that Jimmy and Joey recorded
together just before Jimmy died was one of
my top choices for 2005.
This
new CD looks set to being one of my favourites
for 2007. In April 2006, Joey played for a
week at Yoshi's in Oakland, California. As
often happens, the sound engineer recorded
the sessions. When Joey heard the tapes, he
felt they deserved to be released as an album
because "This stuff is burning!!" The sessions
were special because saxophonist George Coleman
was playing with Joey's regular trio, and
the two men clearly stimulated one another
to make some exciting music, with the added
thrill of a "live" event before an enthusiastic
audience.
The
opening Cherokee
really is thrilling, with both George and
Joey reeling off reams of notes at high speed,
aided and abetted by Byron Landham's dynamic
drumming. The way they end the tune sounds
as if it might descend into a shambles but
instead it is a humorous exchange of unexpected
bits and pieces which has jazz's essential
"sound of surprise". The mood is calmer for
Ceora,
a gentle bossa nova written by Lee Morgan
and given nearly 14 minutes of interpretation.
Coleman's tone is tough but tender; Jake Langley's
guitar solo is the soul of discretion; and
Joey's fingerwork is phenomenal. Coleman lays
out for I'm
in the Mood for Love,
which brings in Colleen McNabb for a very
slow vocal. She messes up the lyrics, singing
"the stars above us" instead of "the stars
we're under", thus torpedoing the rhyme "is
it any wonder". This track creates a change
of mood but an unnecessary one.
Things
perk up again for On
Green Dolphin Street,
with tentative chords from DeFrancesco and
the theme stated enigmatically by Coleman,
whose subsequent solo is strikingly exploratory.
Joey follows his example, avoiding the obvious
and finding some unpredictable gems. On Little
Girl Blue,
Joey switches to electronic keyboards for
a delicate introduction, taken up thoughtfully
by Coleman, leading into his impassioned solo.
The ending is, again, a triumph against seemingly
impossible odds. The set rounds off with a
vigorous version of Autumn
Leaves.
George Coleman once more proves that he can
play with a full awareness of jazz tradition
while exploring unexpected byways which may
have sprung from the avant-garde but now seem
completely at home in a setting such as this.
The guitarist plays another shapely solo,
while DeFrancesco does what he is best at:
raising the temperature and keeping it boiling.
The fours he swaps with the drummer maintain
the intensity. We can be glad that the sound
engineer's tapes didn't end up in a box somewhere
but are now available for us to hear and enjoy
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Concord
0880072301238
