23623 N. Scottsdale Rd. Ste. D3 #468 ~Scottsdale, Arizona USA 85255
1-800-547-2646 natl.  480-513-3007 t.   480-513-0144 f. 

ARTIST BIOS

Joey DeFrancesco Trio with Special Guest, Ron Blake 

Joey DeFrancesco is regarded by organ aficionados as the baddest B-3 burner in the business (a claim supported six consecutive DownBeat Critics Poll awards  - 2002 thru 2006).   And while Joey has never made any boastful claims about his own ranking among the organ elite on the contrary, he has always respectfully deferred to his B-3 elders, the fact is, no organist today plays with the skill, harmonic depth, and authority of this phenomenon from Philly.  With over 20 solo releases and historic  associations with  legends such as Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith and John McLaughlin, Joey’s place  in the idiom’s history is cemented.

Ron Blake - If it’s true that you can judge a man by the company he keeps, then Ron Blake would certainly would qualify.  Jazz audiences that have come to respect his work with such artists as Roy Hargrove, Art Farmer and Christian McBride and from fans of alternative types of  music through his work with Yerba Buena and Meshell Ndegeocello’s Spirit Music Jamia.   Ron brings this eclectic energy to his two Mack Avenue Records solo releases, Lest We Forget (2003) and Sonic Tonic (2005), proving that he’s not afraid to take chances as he twists and turns  his way through this music called jazz.