A Tribute to Joey DeFrancesco - Tenor Madness Band

Thursday, October 20, 2022 8:00 PM 20:00
Sunday, October 23, 2022 8:00 PM 20:00

Jazz Showcase 806 S Plymouth Ct Chicago United States (map)

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Tribute to Joey DeFrancesco- Tenor Madness band

with Dan Trudell, Greg Arty, Doug Lawrence & Jerry Weldon

Before Joey DeFrancesco’s untimely death on August 25th, 2022, he was booked to appear at
Chicago’s legendary club The Jazz Showcase with his newest creation - Joey DeFrancesco’s
Tenor Madness Band. This would have been Joey’s third appearance at the The Jazz
Showcase in 2022 and he was excited to present this new band to his beloved Chicago
audience.

Joey picked two of his favorite tenor saxophonists in the world for the front line of his new
band - Doug Lawrence (star tenor soloist with the multi-Grammy® winning Count Basie
Orchestra) and Jerry Weldon (star tenor soloist with Grammy® winning Harry Connick’s band).
Both players come from the swinging “big sound” school of tenor playing that Joey loved so
much. The school that include greats like Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Arnett Cobb,
Lockjaw Davis, Johnny Griffin and others.

Doug Lawrence and Jerry Weldon have both been featured soloists with a virtual “who’s who”
of the jazz organ world, including - Wild Bill Davis, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Dr Lonnie
Smith, Charles Earland, Bill Doggett, and of course, Joey DeFrancesco.

In 2021, Joey DeFrancesco’s Tenor Madness Band premiered at Parker Jazz Club in Austin, TX
to rave reviews and sold out audiences. The band was such a success that Joey booked The
Jazz Showcase in Chicago and started making plans to take the band on the road in 2023. It
would be a tour that included a live recording at the famed Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London
among other highlights.

Rounding out the band for this appearance at The Jazz Showcase is Chicago’s great jazz
organist, Dan Trudell. Dan will be playing Hammond B3 along with Greg Artry on drums. Both
Trudell and Artry are popular mainstays on the Chicago jazz scene and world-class musicians
in their own right. They have worked with Benny Golson, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess,
Joe Williams and many others.

When the devastating news of Joey DeFrancesco’s sudden and unexpected death became
public, musicians and fans around the world mourned in disbelief. It is truly a tragedy of epic
proportions for the music world. Joey’s “bigger than life” talent and persona was, and never
will be, matched. He was one of those musicians that only come around once in a lifetime.
Joey will, without doubt, go down in history as one of the greatest jazz artists of all-time.

After the initial shock of Joey’s passing, it was time for Wayne Segal, proprietor of The Jazz
Showcase, to make a decision on how to proceed with the dates that Joey had been engaged
Wayne made the decision to keep the band Joey had originally booked and make the
engagement a tribute and celebration of Joey’s life. It seemed like the only logical choice and
something that Joey would have wanted. With the blessings of Joey’s beloved wife, Gloria
DeFrancesco, The Jazz Showcase proudly and respectfully presents our Tribute to Joey
DeFrancesco. We sincerely hope you can attend our heartfelt send-off for the greatest jazz
organist and multi-instrumentalist that ever lived. The one and only Joey DeFrancesco.

"Tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence proved invincible, his technique so fluid and his sound so huge as to dwarf everyone playing near him."

Howard Reich - CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"There is nothing forced about Doug's playing. He is, as they say, the real thing.”

Dan Morgenstern - EDITOR of DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE/NEA JAZZ MASTER

★★

"Jerry Weldon is one of today's leading proponents of Soul Jazz who represents the 'bar-walkin', hard-blowing, tenor legends in our contemporary American Jazz scene."

Gary Walker, WBGO RADIO

"A thoughtful soloist whose subtle swing has plenty of fiber."

Ira Gitler, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAZZ

★★

“Dan Trudell - Organist deserving wider recognition.”

DOWNBEAT CRITICS POLL