Organist Joey DeFrancesco's debut as a leader would be impressive even if he had not been 17 at the time! DeFrancesco, whose sound has always been strongly influenced by Jimmy Smith (sounding like an exact duplicate on "All of Me"), is backed by an eight-piece horn section on two songs and a 16-piece string section on three others but more important to the music is the playing of guitarist Lou Volpe, drummer Buddy Williams and the electric bass of Alex Blake. Houston Person's tenor is also a strong asset on two of the eight numbers in a program that ranges from swing to more modern funk. A strong start to a colorful career. ~ by Scott Yanow, AMG.
Columbia Records, CK 44463, 1989
Recorded at Mastersound
Studios, Astoria, New York
Musicians:
Joey DeFrancesco - Organ
[Hammond B-3], Ensoniq Keyboards (#5,6)
Houston Person - Tenor
Saxophone (#7,8)
Lou Volpe - Guitar
Alex Blake - Acoustic Bass
(#3,4), Electric Bass (#2,5-8)
Buddy Williams - Drums
Bashuri Johnson - Percussion
16-Piece String Section
(#2,4,6)
8-Piece Horn Section (#8)
Horace Ott - Conductor
Tracks:
1. Blues For J. {Jimmy Smith}
(4:20)
2. [They Long To Be] Close To
You {Burt Bacharach, Hal David} (4:31)
3. Carbon Copy {Joey
DeFrancesco} (6:00)
4. All Of Me {Seymour Simons,
Gerald Marks} (7:03)
5. 30th Street Station {Joey
DeFrancesco} (4:06)
6. One For C.C. {Joey
DeFrancesco} (6:16)
7. L.G. Blues {Joey
DeFrancesco} (5:58)
8. Pétala {Djavan} (6:19)
Total Time: 44:39
Credits:
Producer, Arranger, Conductor
- Horace Ott
Executive Producer - Dr.
George Butler
Engineer - Tom Roberts
Music Copyist - Frank Zuback
Art Direction - Howard
Fritzson
Photography - Mark Malabrigo
Liner Notes - Al Pyror
