Joey DeFrancesco
One For Rudy
High Note 7256
***
Organist Joey DeFrancesco’s One For Rudy is a sweet dollop
of swing but far from a main course. The trio (Steve Cotter on guitar, Ramon
Banda on drums) strolls through ten tracks of mostly well-worn standards in a
nod to recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder who supervised the session last
summer. This band has a lot of experience on the road together but this is their
first studio outing. The liner notes include a strange quote from DeFrancesco
in reference to his sidemen that raises some eyebrows: “They were my B band.
Well, now they’re my A band.” Is that really a compliment? What led to the
promotion? Ah, nevermind. Things progress slowly at first with a lighter than
air take on “I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed” breezing by while “Canadian Sunset” gets
a tumbleweed rub amid the gently propulsive swing. The band hits their stride
midway through on a blistering version of Freddie Hubbard’s “Up Jumped Spring.”
DeFrancesco is at his flamboyant best, opening the tune solo before letting
Cotter spin an elastic take on the changes that works well against
DeFrancesco’s ebullience. A driving interpretation of “Monk’s Dream” gives
everybody a chance to shine. Banda trades fours with DeFrancesco in a bouncing
conversation that highlights the undersung drummer’s chops. The trio is in fine form throughout but they don’t
shed any new light on the repertoire or the format. The result is an
entertaining enough blowing session but DeFrancesco and his bandmates could
make a record like this every single day if they wanted to. The main accomplishment
of this album is acknowledging the importance of Rudy Van Gelder and getting to
personally show him some gratitude for his decades of work. A gesture we all
wish we could make.
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