USA: Joey DeFrancesco - In The Key Of The Universe (2019)

As he s made abundantly clear over the past 30 years, Joey DeFrancesco has plenty of soul. What most listeners probably haven t spent much time pondering is that soul s place in the universe. On his adventurous new album, In The Key Of The Universe, the master organist turns his musical attentions to his spiritual side, tapping into a strain of metaphysical jazz that s fueled sonic searchers for more than half a century. Joey D calls upon disciples and missionaries of jazz to join him in paving the way to enlightenment. DeFrancesco naturally feels a profound connection to the questing, devotional jazz of forebears from Pharoah Sanders to John Coltrane to John McLaughlin. It may seem like a change in direction, but unexpected travels into new territory has been a central tenet of Joey DeFrancesco s music throughout his remarkable career.