Papa John DeFrancesco Jumpin' CD

Papa John DeFrancesco, the father of organist Joey DeFrancesco, is a fine organist himself. The weakness to his otherwise enjoyable set is that the tunes (with the exception of the pop song "You Are So Beautiful") are all either blues or near-blues, generally taken at similar tempos. The sameness to the individual tunes is unfortunate (better planning should have gone into the date), but the playing is first-rate throughout. In addition to DeFrancesco, the large-toned tenor saxophonist Jacques Johnson is a major asset and John DeFrancesco Jr. is a fine guitarist. The music is solid soul-jazz with appealing grooves, but it is a pity that most of the songs do not stand out by themselves. ~ Scott Yanow

Live Recording

Recorded at The Music Centre, Exton, Pennsylvania in June 2002.

Personnel: Johnny DeFrancesco (guitar); Jacques Johnson (tenor saxophone); Glenn Ferracone (drums); Marlon Simon (percussion).

Liner Note Author: Bill Milkowski.

Recording information: The Music Centre, Exton, PA (06/2002).

Personnel: Papa John DeFrancesco (organ); Jacques Johnson (tenor saxophone); Johnny DeFrancesco (guitar); Glenn Ferracone (drums, percussion); Marlon Simon (percussion).