Customer Reviews

Organic Vibes

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There's a wind of change with Joey DeFrancesco's new "Organic Vibes" album on Concord Records - this output signals a major change in his musical direction both as a soloist, leader and organist. After many (too many?) tribute albums to and with the late great Jimmy Smith, which ended with their joint "Legacy" album on Concord Records in 2005, DeFrancesco has closed a chapter in his musical development. "It was time for change" DeFrancesco told the press. The prescription for DeFrancesco's new direction of development seems to be an obvious but surprising one - first teaming up with his regular rhythm section of the ever-swinging and tasteful Byron Landham behind the drum set and the surprisingly talented guitar rookie Jake Langley, then adding on unexpected notable musicians from their own genre - and the result is an excellent album. But DeFrancesco made an unusual decision on who to add as sidemen for "Organic Vibes" - the forth member of the group is the incomparable Bobby Hutcherson (all superlatives on him have been used by others...) on vibes and making the quintet complete with Ron Blake on saxes and flute. Jazz organ friends will remember the stunning pairing of Big John Patton's organ and Bobby Hutcherson's vibes on Patton's legendary Blue Note album "Let 'em Roll" from 1965. "Organic Vibes" takes the organ / vibes format interaction to the next level of musicality when the group is exploring the compositional territories of DeFrancesco's self penned memorable tunes like the boppish "The Tackle", the Larry Young'ish "Down The Hatch" and the lovely shuffle "Colleen". "I Thought About You" is being treated for some 9 minutes of a beautiful and stunning trio interplay between Hutcherson, DeFrancesco and Landham. On the Latin beat inspired "Little B's Poem", Ron Blake displays his proven versatility on flute with some inspiring choruses. Adding George Coleman, tenor sax, on some of the tunes gives the album another bonus.

Joey DeFrancesco comps and plays at his peak level on Jimmy Smith's personal Hammond B-3 from 1959, donated to him by the Jimmy Smith Estate, and we can hear a change in his approach of using the drawbar registrations and dynamics, registration changes and the use of the Leslie speakers. The recipe is leslie on stop, 3 first drawbars out and no chorus on the organ to obtain a "dry and straight" organ sound - and what an outstanding sounding B-3!

Great album, great performances and DeFrancesco proves again that he's the baddest jazz organ burner in the industry (together with Dr. Lonnie Smith, not to forget).

This is a wonderful album. Defrancesco's restraint is powerful--he builds up tension, comps inventively, and now and then releases the tension and lets loose with some magical runs. Bobby Hutcherson is superb. I never tire of listening to him, he seems to always find new things to say. Ron Blake is solid, as is the rest of the band. THe sound production is great..this is just a wonderful session, the best CD I've purchased so far this year. It passed the most stringent test of all: when it was finished, I wanted to put it back in and start all over again. Highly recommended!

The best album of the hotest Hammond jazz organiist period. Even hotter than Jimmy Smith. The members of the band are hot. All live as it should be.

One of the best recording of the year, with joey De Francesco the organ jazz will survive for many years.........

This is serious stuff, and all the musicians are superb. After Jimmy Smith's passing, Joey carries on with passion, skill, and ingenuity.

again a nice piece of work from jd...however the only thing i didn't care for much was the key click mix of the organ...i like hammond b3 percussion as much as the next guy but the way it was mixed it sounded a bit too digital and too far out in the mix...that withstanding...give the cd a try...

Superb! I finally had to put this disc away, just so I wouldn't play it until I hated it. "Incredible" will be next. And it introduced me to Bobby Hutcherson, a vibraphonist I'm going to have to hear a lot more of.
Update: Having had the time, now, to acquire and hear Joey's "Incredible" and Bobby's "For Sentimental Reasons," while they're good, I don't think they measure up to "Organic Vibes." In the six years between the two from Joey, I believe he has probably matured from a showmanship style toward that of all jazz greats---less is more. My favorite tracks: "I Thought About You" and especially "JeNeans's Dream." The interplay on those two between Joey and Bobby is sublime. This album is special.