Song of the Day 8/30: Joey DeFrancesco Trio, “Never Can Say Goodbye”

Delco native Joey DeFrancesco, widely recognized as the top jazz organist of his generation, died last week. He was only 51, but released nearly 40 albums of his own and played on dozens more as a sideman for everyone from Miles Davis to Van Morrison.

He recorded his first LP when he was just 16, by which point he was already a legend on the Philly jazz scene. No wonder — he was playing on stage with established pros from age 10, including one night at Wilmington’s long-gone jazz club, the Flight Deck, where he sat in towards the end of a gig with organist Jack McDuff. Years later he recalled,

“I came up there and played ‘Rock Candy’ and Jack was … he was laughing…. He got behind me, like he was shooting me and stuff. We traded off and it was great. He picked me up when I was done and kept saying; ‘Ten!… Ten years old!’ … you know, things like that, I’ll never forget.”

He was still in high school when Miles heard him playing on a local TV show and hired him for a five-week European tour. His debut album put the Hammond B3 back on the jazz map — the model was discontinued in 1975 as synthesizers became common, and fell into neglect not long after — and he was the undisputed king of the instrument, winning Down Beat’s poll every year since 2005.

Despite his virtuosity, he was no jazz purist. His playing, rooted in the blues, was as ebullient as it was flawless. Listen to him bust open the Motown chestnut “Never Can Say Goodbye” — he recorded an entire LP of Michael Jackson’s music — in this live performance at the Jakarta Jazz Festival. Notice that even when he’s just playing the melody his phrasing gives it soul, and even his jazziest improvisations stay funky. The guitarist is Paul Bollenback, who spent almost 20 years as a De Francesco sideman.

In addition to the organ and other keyboards, DeFrancesco also played the trumpet and tenor saxophone, and made a habit of recording tribute albums with his heroes. In 1996 he recorded “Rock Candy,” the tune he played at the Flight Deck, with Jack McDuff.