As he’s made abundantly clear over the past 30 years, Joey
DeFrancesco has plenty of soul. What most listeners probably haven’t spent much
time pondering is that soul’s place in the universe. On his adventurous new
album, In The Key Of The Universe, the master organist turns his musical
attentions to his spiritual side, tapping into a strain of metaphysical jazz
that’s fueled sonic searchers for more than half a century. Joey D calls upon
disciples and missionaries of jazz to join him in paving the way to enlightenment.
In The Key Of The Universe, due out March 1 via Mack Avenue
Records and available for pre-order now, arrives almost exactly 50 years after
the release of Karma, the landmark album by legendary saxophonist Pharoah
Sanders. One of the primary exponents of spiritually-oriented jazz, Sanders
makes three guest appearances on the album, including an update of his
best-known track from Karma, the cosmically influential “The Creator Has A
Master Plan.” Playing drums on that track was the great Billy Hart, who
reunites with Sanders as well as DeFrancesco, with whom he’s worked several
times over the years since joining the organist for his 1989 album Where WERE
You?
Hart makes up part of the core band for In The Key Of The
Universe along with percussion virtuoso Sammy Figueroa, another Where WERE You?
alum who has played with almost literally everyone over the years, from Miles
Davis and Sonny Rollins to David Bowie and Patti Smith to Mariah Carey and
Diana Ross. The multi-talented saxophonist Troy Roberts, a frequent
collaborator in recent years, shows off his skills on tenor, soprano, alto, and
even the acoustic bass. At the center of it all is the always scintillating
organ work of DeFrancesco, who retains his trademark robust swing and gritty
funk while striking out in freer, more exploratory directions.
An artist who's always been deeply attuned to the full
history of jazz and able to tap into it in innovative ways, DeFrancesco
naturally feels a profound connection to the questing, devotional jazz of
forebears from Sanders to John Coltrane to John McLaughlin. It may seem like a
change in direction, but unexpected travels into new territory has been a
central tenet of DeFrancesco’s music throughout his remarkable career.
“I pride myself on being a musical chameleon,” the organist
explains. “There’s so much good music that it’s hard to stay in one place, at
least for me. I love being able to go in any direction, and lately that’s sent
my music in a more free jazz direction – but still with a groove.”
That adaptability is something that DeFrancesco also
recognized in Pharoah Sanders, whose own work has long delved into myriad
stylistic approaches. But for In The Key Of The Universe, DeFrancesco wanted
the sax giant to tap into that spiritual vein that so memorably flows through
his distinctive sound. “Pharoah is one of the go-to guys when it comes to that
spiritual aspect of the music,” he says. “A lot of people do that kind of
thing, but I like to go directly to the source, and he really is the source.”
In many ways an entire subgenre of consciousness-expanding
jazz can be traced back to Karma and more specifically “The Creator Has A
Master Plan,” the 32-minute epic that takes up almost the entire album.
DeFrancesco’s rendition whittles the piece down to a relatively succinct 11
minutes, though without losing any of the original’s transcendent power, which
DeFrancesco felt like a jolt in the studio.
“As soon as Pharoah picked up his horn and started playing
that melody, my hair just stood straight up,” he recalls. “Then Billy started
doing his thing with the mallets, wide open and free. Once it gets going it’s
so hard to stop; you could listen to that vibe forever. It was almost an
unexplainable feeling – absolutely a downright spiritual experience.”
Sanders also lends his singular tenor sound to the
enthralling title track, on which he plays in tandem with Roberts, and to the
more tender “And So It Is,” where he’s paired with DeFrancesco’s trumpet
playing in addition to his cascading organ sound. All three tracks showcase
Sanders’ unparalleled ability to be simultaneously raw and refined, mesmerizing
and ferocious.
The rustling of Figueroa’s percussion paired with Roberts’
keening soprano usher in the album with DeFrancesco’s “Inner Being,” whose
introspective opening gives way to a blissful groove. An Indian-inspired drone
underlies “Vibrations In Blue,” where Hart’s hypnotic rhythms usher in the
exotic, interlaced voices of Roberts and DeFrancesco. The buoyant “Awake And
Blissed” follows, a rollicking mission statement highlighted by the leader’s
fleet, jubilant keyboard runs. “It Swung Wide Open” picks up the pace even more
for a blistering jaunt that shines the spotlight on Hart’s taut, stop-on-a-dime
rhythmic control.
The band pares back to a trio for the lush “Soul
Perspective,” which gives ample space to Roberts’ stirring, passionate tenor.
That sound turns breathy and intensely moving on the absorbing ballad “A Path
Through The Noise,” which derives its meditative atmosphere from the
combination of DeFrancesco’s shimmering organ vibe and trumpet solo, Hart’s
exquisite brushwork, and Figueroa’s crystalline accents. The album concludes
with the touching, heartfelt bossa-tinged reflection “Easier To Be.”
“The direction in which my life is going always affects what
I’m doing musically,” DeFrancesco says. “As I grow older, I find myself
attracted to a more spiritual vibe. It’s always been that way, to some extent –
especially playing music and going into the zone, which has to do with being in
touch with the universe. It’s not about religion, it’s just a spiritual vibe
that respects everything, in music and in life.”
Joey DeFrancesco Tour Dates:
February 1 / Arts and Technology Lecture Hall / Richardson,
TX
February 2 / New Trier Jazz Festival / Winnetka, IL
February 7 / St. Cecilia Music Center / Grand Rapids, MI
February 8 / BLU Jazz+ / Akron, OH
February 9 / Bop Stop - The Music Settlement / Cleveland, OH
* February 27 / Jazz Standard / New York, NY *
February 28 - March 3 / Blues Alley / Washington, DC
March 8 - 9 / Sharp Concert Hall / Oklahoma, OK
** April 23 - 25 / The Chicago Theatre / Chicago, IL **
May 17 - 18 / Jazz at Lincoln Center / New York, NY
* NYC Record Release Show w/ Billy Hart & Troy Roberts
** w/ Van Morrison
Joey DeFrancesco · In The Key Of The Universe
Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: March 1, 2019
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