Author Topic: Joey "D" Dead at 51.  (Read 1344 times)

Offline rollo

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Joey "D" Dead at 51.
« on: August 26, 2022, 09:54:29 AM »
  RIP. Love your music. Way to young no report on cause. Hope it was not the vaccine.

charles
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Offline S Clark

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Re: Joey "D" Dead at 51.
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2022, 11:42:25 AM »
  RIP. Love your music. Way to young no report on cause. Hope it was not the vaccine.

charles
Yeah, that's such a killer. 
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Offline _Scotty_

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Re: Joey "D" Dead at 51.
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2022, 11:43:12 AM »
 He was an original. I've always enjoyed his playing. The Hammond has a unique and classic sound that I've always loved whether used in jazz setting or rock as heard in Iron Butterfly's  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
 Gone to soon.
Scotty

Offline Triode Pete

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Re: Joey "D" Dead at 51.
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2022, 07:18:45 AM »
  RIP. Love your music. Way to young no report on cause. Hope it was not the vaccine.

charles

Joey was a very big boy... I would guess heart attack!



RIP, Joey...

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Offline BobM

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Re: Joey "D" Dead at 51.
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2022, 08:10:48 AM »
My organ hero. At 51 way too young.

Jimmy Smith left him his organ in his will. I wonder who Joey will leave it to now?

Here's the text of a tribute by Larry Goldings.

I first encountered Joey DeFrancesco in 1986 when Arnie Lawrence brought him by the New School for his “Peep Your Hole Card” series. He might have just been signed to Columbia Records, at age 16. If my dates our correct, I was a college freshman, and was not yet playing Hammond organ, only piano. That day Joey only played piano, but his precociousness was obvious to all present. The label signing and Joey’s prodigious talents paved the way for a very real Hammond organ resurgence internationally. By 1990 I was I riding this wave with other young organists, and Joey’s acclaim was positively affecting the careers of our elders - Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Mel Rhyne, and others. Old Hammonds were being refurbished and clubs and jazz festivals all over the world were providing them for a rising number of organ-centric bands. Joey was very much responsible for this, and musically he set the bar very very high.
Around 2001, a festival in Florida asked for Joey and I to play a two-organ set with a rhythm section. After the show I remember wondering whether I actually played the same instrument as Joey. His facility on the instrument was his most obvious trait but he possessed all the subtle talents as well - incredible feel, light and swinging left hand/pedal technique, wonderful accompaniment skills where he utilized the entire instrument, comfort in many styles, and most importantly, Joey really played the blues (even when he was a teenager). Anyone who willingly shares the bill with Jimmy Smith, as Joey did many times, live and on record, knows what the hell they’re doing.
A few years ago, I was desperate to find someone who would move an organ down the hellish stairs at The Village Vanguard, when Joey came through and offered one of his instruments to be moved from Birdland, as long as a reliable moving company did the job. Unfortunately the organ was not returned to him unscathed. Something must have happened at the end of the week when the movers hauled the organ up and out. This news was reported to me by Joey.
On several occasions, Joey took the time to reach out to me with positive words about my own records. As recently as last month, he texted me that he was playing my trio’s new record (with Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart) on his XM radio show. What a beautiful cat.
I can’t imagine the number of players who started playing organ on account of Joey. But he wasn’t just an organist. He was a very good trumpet player, and in recent years he was touring as a tenor saxophone player, hiring organists to play behind him for part of the set. He confidently held his own on the horn, playing soulfully and with a great sound, which is just truly amazing to me. And talk about living out one’s dreams!
I send my deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Joey, especially his family.

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