Young Organist Unlocks New Jazz With Old Keys

At 18, Joey DeFrancesco has already toured Europe with Miles Davis, becoming the youngest member of the Davis band in 25 years. What’s even more remarkable in this synthesizer age, the recent high-school graduate from Philadelphia chooses to play the Hammond B-3 organ--not the new electronic model, but the old motor-driven unit that the company quit making a few years back.

Listening to Jimmy Smith’s “Blues for J.” from DeFrancesco’s debut album, “All of Me” (Columbia), it’s hard to believe that Smith himself isn’t at the keyboard. The tune opens with the futuristic whine of a synthesizer (DeFrancesco plays those too, but the organ is his main ax). But the white noise quickly fades to a contrasting rhythmic romp that recalls a number of great jazz organists from Philadelphia: a real groove tune.

“I’d heard ‘Blues for J.’ since I was 10, and recorded it simply because it’s one of my favorite tunes,” DeFrancesco said. “I set the organ identical to the way Jimmy Smith does. That to me is my favorite sound. It’s a real articulate sound, you can really hear the notes when you’re playing. A lot of people hear that sound and automatically say it sounds like Jimmy Smith. But I feel that I have a little different style than Jimmy.”

DeFrancesco’s father was an organist and had a B-3 in the house while his son was growing up. Starting on piano at 4, the younger DeFrancesco was soon working out the blues on the machine, playing bass with his left hand because he couldn’t reach the foot pedals. He played his first gig at 6 when his dad dragged him along to a local club to sit in.

DeFrancesco spent his early teens listening to ‘60s Miles Davis albums, studying classical music at Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School and attending the city’s Creative Performing Arts High School. His big break came in February, 1988, when he was asked to put a band together for a local Philadelphia talk show on a day that Miles Davis appeared as a guest.

“During the breaks we played ‘Tune-Up,’ ‘Four,’ ‘So What,’ all of his tunes,” said DeFrancesco. Davis was so impressed that he took the organist’s number and called a few days later to enlist the teen-ager for a tour that included Poland and Finland as well as New York club dates. DeFrancesco, who appears on Davis’ latest album, “Amandela” (Warner Bros.), was the youngest member of the Davis band since drummer Tony Williams joined at 17 in 1963.

“I think Miles is getting ready to change again, to play more straight-ahead jazz,” DeFrancesco said. “It’s like he’s always trying to put the music he loves past him. He called me before he left on his last tour, wanting me to go with him. But I’m getting my own thing together now. I’ll always stay in touch. I want to get him for my next album.”

DeFrancesco has high expectation for his next effort, which he is still developing. “The first album (recorded in June, 1988, but not released until this year) is a lot different from what I’m playing now. I’m happy with that album, but it’s dated. There’s going to be a lot of straight-ahead jazz, not like the traditional, blues-based jazz organists did it, but more like (the late) Larry Young did it. He was the last organist to take the instrument in another direction.

“My goal, what my intuition tells me to do, is to take the organ to another spot, by playing things from Coltrane, Miles. But I’m still into groovin’ too. There’ll be some tunes that really groove.”

Keeping his now-antiquated organs running requires some work. Like a lot of guys who hop up their cars, DeFrancesco likes to tinker with his instruments, making repairs and modifications.

“I’m always going to be changing the parts inside the organ until I get the particular sound that I like. I’ve got one that’s portable, my custom model, the one I carry around all the time. That’s my baby. My dad still has the one I started on. I’ve got another one and I’m looking for a third. Hammond made the instrument for 30 years, so they’re not all that hard to find.”