1. Dig
2. Lament
3. Take Me Out to the Ballgame
4. If Ever I Should Leave You
5. Besamé Mucho
6. Come Dance With Me
7. Nancy
8. Blues Up and Down
Joey DeFrancesco - Organ
Jerry Weldon - Tenor sax
Byron Landham - Drums
The organ trio is an ensemble with perennial appeal. Often it consists
of a Hammond organ, guitar and drums, but here the guitar is replaced
with a tenor sax. In fact it adds to the punch of this CD, as Jerry
Weldon can play with intense funk as well as delicate lyricism. This
is clear in a track like Take Me Out to the Ballgame, which is played
as a jazz waltz, with the theme presented tenderly by Weldon after some
bravura introductory gestures from Joey DeFrancesco
Joey himself has lost none of his ability to excite and surprise with
the variety of sounds he obtains from his instrument. In fact he doesn't
play the Hammond organ any more: he has been converted to the Diversi
range. He was so impressed with their sound and depth that he has bought
into the company and become its ambassador and adviser. The organ he
plays on this album definitely has a potent sound, especially from the
bass pedals, which supply the bass underpinning that would normally
be provided by a double bass or bass guitar. The pedals really ground
the music, especially in If Ever I Should Leave You. The organ also
responds well to DeFrancesco's amazing dexterity, playing complex lines
which remain clear despite their speed.
The opening Dig is based on the chord sequence of Sweet Georgia Brown,
although Joey quotes Who Can I Turn To? in the course of his solo. The
tunes vary from the gentle Latin-American rhythms of Besame Mucho to
the straight-ahead swing of Come Dance With Me and the gentle emotion
of Nancy (With the Laughing Face).
My only reservation concerns Byron Landham's drumming, which at times
is rather too busy to maintain the forthright swing we expect from an
organ trio. On up-tempo numbers, Byron's accents can occasionally be
so numerous as to interfere with the beat. But otherwise this is a splendid
album of no-nonsense jazz: just what you would expect from Mr DeFrancesco.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
HighNote
HCD 7190
