Joey DeFrancesco's passing underscores personal nature of jazz

“March 1, 2020 — a day I’ll never forget,” began trumpeter Étienne Charles’ Instagram post.

“Creole Soul opened for Joey DeFrancesco, part of the ‘We Always Swing’ Jazz Series’ 25th Anniversary Celebration in CoMo. On the road, I’d always see [Joey] tear up any musical situation, making whichever instrument he chose as his vessel, drip with soul.  So, [tonight], we’re checking out his set and [it’s] blazing hot. After a few tunes, we were told the restaurant across the street was about to close, so we [went] over there to get some Chinese food. As the food arrived, [I received] a text.: ‘Want to play? Joey was looking for you.’ I sped out of the restaurant, back into the [Blue Note], downstairs [to the dressing room] grabbed my horn and back up on stage to sit in on a blues. A week later we were all watching the world shut down, All I could do was think about how much organ Joey had played that night.”

There’s no other way to say it. Child prodigy turned seminal, forward-thinking organist DeFrancesco’s unexpected August 25 passing at age 51 shocked and greatly saddened the jazz world. I count myself among those among the stunned and upset.

When it comes to jazz, there are a few truisms and axioms. In this instance, these two come to mind:

— When you get to the highest level of performance — greatness, in essence — jazz becomes a cottage industry. There are only so many musicians whose artistry reaches the sky and the heavens above. Judging not by me, but by the outpouring of reaction and love from his colleagues, peers and others, Joey DeFrancesco certainly enters that sphere.

— Jazz is personal. I was told a long time ago now that I shouldn’t take disappointments involving other interactions with musicians so personally. I remember Sonny Rollins, when I interviewed him, told me he didn’t like to become close with “critics." But even Rollins, who did keep some distance, did to some extent.

I have never ascribed to this, in part because there are too few player-practitioners and they thrive rather than shy away from being accessible to concertgoers and fans, which is who, when all is said and done, I am.

And then there is the jazz industry reality, where “crossover” takes on a completely different meaning. Virtually everyone within the inner workings of jazz — out of necessity — wears multiple hats. Be it the musicians themselves who are also producers; be it producers who are also writers; be it writers who are also producers and musicians, and on and on. The co-mingling of people within jazz is essential to its well-being, its survival.

I again count myself — working directly with artists, arranging travel for them, landing bookings for them, serving as a road manager, composing sets of liner notes to accompany their recordings, once a jazz broadcaster for a decade, but also overseeing a jazz-centric non-profit and describing artists and their work within this space — a small part of the jazz world.

A week ago, Thursday, at 8:31 p.m., while sitting outside of Top Ten Wines sipping a libation, my phone buzzed. Given the time, I thought it was my brother updating me on baseball scores, as he and I frequently do. It turned out to be from Étienne Charles, who himself will appear Dec. 4 at The Blue Note under the auspices of the Jazz Series.

Our exchange went as follows:

Charles: Man ... Joey D.

Me: Sure! No problem, I said thinking he was joking about asking if we could have DeFrancesco again join for a double-billed concert.

Charles: ?

Me: Not sure of your text. Joking (about securing the double-bill in light of the fact that concert was the Jazz Series’ final pre-pandemic presentation).

Charles: We lost Joey ...

Me: No!!!!

Charles then sent me a photo I had taken from The Blue Note wings last March of him sitting in with DeFrancesco. I wanted to document it. It was the first, and now the only time, the two musicians shared the bandstand.

The sheer number of social media posts from artists about DeFrancesco’s passing has been remarkable — a fond remembrance, a personal tribute, a “how we met,” giving one the sense of just how important a musical contributor the organist and multi-instrumentalist was and will remain.

People can simply Google DeFrancesco’s obituary and read the details of his all-too-short life. Briefly, he was from Springfield, Pennsylvania, essentially Philadelphia. His father, “Papa” Joe DeFrancesco, was an organist and got his son started on his career. If you read Christian McBride’s post, you will learn they grew up together, became best friends, attended high school together and remained close and finally recorded together, the entry winning a Grammy.

Randy Brecker, also from Philadelphia originally, made a remarkable post, as did drummer Matt Wilson — who, like Charles, recalled the double-bill Jazz Series concert on December 7, 2014 he and DeFrancesco did at Murry’s.

Epilogue: Text Exchange From January 31, 2019

Me: Joey. Greetings. Hope you’re well. Favor. See you’re in Chi-Town 4/23-4/25 w/Van [Morrison].

Morrison had called DeFrancesco to be on his most recent recording, “You’re Driving Me Crazy.” Billed as Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco, the latter’s 39th led, co-led release. They toured the world.

Me: Think you could guest + 1 a jazz pal? Tues. would be fine. Let me know. Would love it. Thanks, Jon

Joey: John [sic], Everything is great. I’ll loop in Gloria (his wife) on this, and she’ll work to sort it out. Now I have a favor. Bring my trio to Columbia in 2019. Gloria will send you the info on my new release. Thanks, Pal.

Me: Joey – Greetings. Thanks for getting back to me. Have Gloria send avails. Can we have Van as a special guest? No semis filled w/equipment, no heavy-duty production ... an actual real jazz gig. Maybe even a fundraiser for the Jazz Series. Can you pull it off for our 25th Season?

Joey: Laughing, teared emoji.

Me: Nice! I know you can do it!

Jazz. Yeah. It’s personal.

Jon W. Poses is executive director of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series. Reach him at jazznbsbl@socket.net.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Joey DeFrancesco's passing underscores personal nature of jazz