Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Organist Joey DeFrancesco recently earned a Grammy nomination for his album In The Key Of The Universe.
(Photo: Jay Gilbert)In the wake of his recent Grammy nomination, Joey DeFrancesco has released a live music video for his composition “It Swung Wide Open,” the studio version of which appears on his latest album, In The Key Of The Universe. (Mack Avenue).
Filmed at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, the video, which premieres below, features DeFrancesco—winner of the Organ category in the 2019 DownBeat Readers Poll—in a blazing performance alongside veteran drummer Billy Hart and saxophonist Troy Roberts, both of whom appear on the album.
In The Key Of The Universe is among the nominees in the Grammy category Best Instrumental Jazz Album, alongside the Branford Marsalis Quartet’s The Secret Between The Shadow And The Soul (OKeh/Sony Masterworks), Brad Mehldau’s Finding Gabriel (Nonesuch), Joshua Redman’s Come What May (Nonesuch) and the quartet album Christian McBride’s New Jawn (Mack Avenue).
“I was thrilled to hear about the nomination,” DeFrancesco wrote in an email. “As artists, we put our heart and soul into our music, and recognition from your peers on such a grand level as the Recording Academy is truly an honor I sincerely appreciate. It’s not about winning for me—this is my fifth nomination—but I’m grateful to be able to get my music to the people and appreciate every person who plays a role in making that happen.”
The album includes an 11-minute rendition of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has A Master Plan,” featuring a guest appearance by the legendary saxophonist. Hart plays drums on the track, nearly 50 years after contributing to Sanders’ original recording of the song on the 1969 album Karma. Sanders appears on two other tracks from the album: “And So It Is” and the title tune.
Regarding his work with DeFrancesco on In The Key Of The Universe, Hart said, “Besides his talent and the fact that he’s kept up with the current evolution of the music, he’s doing something that no one else is doing on the organ ... .”
In a four-star review in the April issue of DownBeat, Jim Macnie wrote, “Though there’s plenty of bounce and swing in play throughout the 10-track program, DeFrancesco’s self-professed embrace of spiritual jazz employs the kind of contemplative aura that gave so many of yesteryear’s exploratory efforts their personality.”
The Grammy Awards will be presented on Jan. 26, 2020, and a portion of the ceremony will be broadcast live by CBS.
For a complete list of nominations, visit the Recording Academy’s Grammy website. DB
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
Maria Schneider said of Decades, her new compilation release: “I just wanted to create something, put it in a beautiful box and say, ‘Look at what we did.‘”
Jun 18, 2024 12:00 PM
Maria Schneider opened the sleek black box and placed it on a coffee table in her Manhattan apartment. Inside lay the…