BIG SHOT

DESERT HEAT

WALKING UPTOWN

JUMPIN

Papa' John DeFrancesco put aside his successful playing career to watch over his progeny, Joey DeFrancesco, who by age 17 would start touring as a member of Miles Davis' band. But by the mid-'90s, with Joey grown and on his own, not only did Papa resume his nights behind the B3, he started recording again. Papa has made another trip to the Savant studio, not only with Joey, but with his guitar-playing scion, John, to boot. Together with tenor saxman Joe Fortunato and drummer Glenn Ferracone, they take an un-hackneyed program of nine tunes and add another notch in the belt of this B-3 icon.

Father & son duke it out on B-3 organs on this funky family fued, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's place, feat. Bootsie Barnes, Houston Person, Melvin Sparks & Byron Landham

Joey DeFrancesco offers a hard-driving disc with a mixture of his own Hammond and the tried and true flavors of his regular bandmates Steve Cotter and Ramon Banda. This swinging threesome references everybody from saxophonist Sonny Rollins ("Way out West") and former boss Miles Davis ("I Don't Wanna Be Kissed") to Thelonious Monk ("Monk's Dream"), putting it's own stamp on this format in straightforward fashion. The band clearly delights in exploring the material, playing off one another and, in the case of DeFrancesco and Cotter, letting their envious chops off the leash.

Joey DeFrancesco has come a long way from his recording debut made in 1989 as a fresh-faced 17-year-old. From the get-go, he established his credentials with virtuoso technique and an innate soulfulness that he developed under the tutelage of his father, Papa John DeFrancesco. Combining monstrous chops with a flair for showmanship, DeFrancesco is regarded by organ aficionados as the baddest B-3 burner in the business. Joey's latest manages to look both ahead and back ? back to the trio's roots which extend back 15 years ? and ahead to musical triumphs to come.

JOEY D

Hammond B-3 organist is back in the ring for a second round, bringing ten tunes to the middle of the mat, and cooking through them with white heat from first note to last, backed by Paul Bollenback & Byron Landham