Three-time Grammy® nominated master jazz organist, trumpeter & vocalist, swings back into the Rubber City for a free special masterclass at 5:00 p.m., and a concert event at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.! Featuring Joey DeFrancesco, Dan Wilson, Jason Brown. Presented by the BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation.

A prodigious talent at an early age, Joey began taking a strong interest in the organ. At sixteen he signed an exclusive recording contract with Columbia Records, releasing his first record “All Of Me” at seventeen. This record was single handedly responsible for the great resurgence of the Hammond sound in popular music. Also in his seventeenth year, he was called on by the great Miles Davis to join his band, and toured Europe. It was at that time that Joey, inspired by Miles’s sound, picked up the trumpet & started playing. At eighteen, Joey began touring with his own quartet.

At twenty-two, John McLaughlin called him along with drummer Dennis Chambers, to form the group the “Free Spirits”. This band toured extensively for four years. Joey has been around the world and back dozens of times with his own trio, he has also played and recorded with some of the greatest musicians in the world such as Ray Charles, David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Benny Golson, James Moody, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, George Benson, John Scofield, and many more. He has won the Downbeat Critics poll ten times & the Readers poll every year since 2005 along with countless Jazz Journalist & other Jazz awards. In 2004 Joey was nominated for a Grammy for his record “Falling In Love Again”, and again in 2010 for “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

This trio, without losing sense of tradition, offers a fresh rhythmic and harmonic approach to modern jazz.

Join us for the hard-swingin’, triumphant return of this iconic jazz master to BLU Jazz+, joined by drummer extraordinaire, Jason Brown (Pat Martino, Lizz Wright, Cedar Walton, Wayne Escoffery, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Amina Figarova), and Akron’s own, guitar virtuoso Dan Wilson (Russell Malone, Les McCann, Christian Mcbride, Eric Marienthal and Dave Stryker.)

ABOUT BLU JAZZ+ MASTERCLASS FOUNDATION
Committed to the preservation of America’s treasured art form of jazz, BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation (BJMF) is a new program developed by the founders of BLU Jazz+ Akron (BJA) that brings “front-row” jazz education performance & mentorship opportunities to student musicians and art lovers alike by presenting a series of masterclasses led by top visiting musicians from all over the world.

Recipient of a 2015 Knight Arts Challenge grant award by the Knight Foundation, BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation expands upon the essence of Akron, Ohio’s award-winning live jazz destination, BLU Jazz+ Akron (BJA), launched in Fall 2014. Learn more at blujazzmasterclass.org.